Lylat Wars Saga
by Coloniser
Summary: Second of a nine part saga of the Star Fox Team introduces a new Evil for the Lylat System; bionic warfare.


LYLAT WARS  
  
EPISODE TWO: THE BIONIC WAR  
  
PART ONE: FATHERS  
  
STORY SO FAR:  
  
Andross, a scientist gone mad, went to war with the Lylat system, a peace- loving system, and tried to conquer it. The Star Fox team, consisting of James McCloud, Peppy Hare and Pigma Dengar went to attack Andross and put a stop to the thriving war.  
  
Upon their arrival, Pigma betrayed his team. James was killed and Peppy barely escaped to tell James' son, Fox McCloud, of his father's fate.  
  
As the war continued the Cornerian army grew weaker so they called upon the new Star Fox team, consisting of Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi to attack Andross on his home planet, Venom, and kill him. The Star Fox successfully forefilled this task and brought peace to the system.  
  
Little did they know that Andross had escaped to the toxic planet of Zoness, where he had a back-up base. Under secrecy, Andross grew his army of cruisers into a massive, high powered space armada and increased is Bio- mechanic army. With this new army, he took over the Megac Annon, a high fire- powered space station constructed by Corneria to protect them, and pronounced a new war on the Lylat System, shattering the peace once again.  
  
The Cornerian army, lead by General Pepper, called upon the Star Fox team again to help stop the ever stronger Andross army. The team attacked the Annon but were hit and knocked out of the system and out of the galaxy to a planet called earth. During the battle with the Annon, Falco was brain washed by Andross and used to fight against the Cornerian army.  
  
As Andross's cruisers spread throughout the system, attacking planets, Corneria sent out another fleet, lead by Bill Samson and Claura Wilkinson, to counter-attack the armada which was now positioned around the Megac Annon. But the plan was discovered and ruined. The armada attacked the fleet, weakening it.  
  
Meanwhile, General Pepper had been abducted and a new leader, Lieutenant Jonus Frangu, stepped in.  
  
Back on Earth, Star Fox made friends with the planet and earth decided to help. Coming back through the warp, they were updated on the story and Falco was back to normal. With one last final attack, and with the help of the earth fleet, the team destroyed the armada, conquered to Annon and rescued General Pepper and finally went on to Zoness; the final battle.  
  
Fox came face to face with Andross and with a final fight, Fox avenged his father and Andross was killed. The base was destroyed. Andross' reign of terror and destruction had finally finished. The Lylat System could return to it's normal, peaceful self.  
  
The Star Fox team had now split up, although were still a 'team' in some ways. Fox had taken up the offer proposed by General Pepper as leader of the Cornerian army and he had changed a lot of things. Each planet now had a base, along with a couple of moons. One of Fox's main aims were to restore Zoness to it's original, non-polluted planet. He had almost forefilled this.  
  
Venom also had a new colony on it, with a large city, but it wasn't as beautiful as Corneria. The city had a main base, lead by Falco Lombardi. He still took orders from the other side of the system, from Fox at Corneria.  
  
On Aquas, an under-sea city was built, with another one presently being constructed. The planet was the scientific Headquarters of the System, lead by Slippy Toad who, too took orders from Corneria.  
  
The Sector Authority Space Base (SASB) had been constructed in Sector X and looked after and managed the Sectors X, Y and Z. The base was lead by the remaining member of the old Star Fox team, Peppy Hare, who, too, took orders from his close friend, Fox McCloud.  
  
The warp which had previously lead the Star Fox into the Solar System was now officially recognised with a large space base at the entrance to it. The base only let authorised cruisers through. It was kind of like a customs at an airport.  
  
The System, although peaceful, was always checked, planet by planet, sector by sector, space base by space base, just in case of any unusual activity. Observation stations were dotted around the system, but one had recently been attacked and destroyed by an unknown enemy...  
  
ONE. DISCOVERY  
  
"Remember, we go in, find the information, come out!" Falco ordered his army. They were all lined up behind him, armed with lasers. It was a stormy night on Venom, like most nights. Lightening cracked down toward the ground from the stormy clouds above. Falco wiped the rain which was streaming down his face. "And above all, don't get spotted. If you do, you'll prevent a suprise bombing from Corneria which could stop another war. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, Sir!" his army replied.  
  
Falco turned around and slowly pushed open the old wooden door to an old, empty house. It was pitch darkness inside, with the odd sound of a drop of rain hitting the ground from a leak in the roof. The windows had been smashed and there were cobwebs everywhere. Falco quietly walked in, followed by his army. Torches shone everywhere. "Look around this place and leave nothing unturned!"  
  
Soldiers started walking into different rooms, exploring everything and looking for clues. Falco felt as though he was being watched. He flicked his head around and looked with his good, Avian eye-sight. But he couldn't see anything. There was something strange about this house, though. It was no ordinary house.  
  
A couple of days ago an observation station above one of the moons of Venom was mysteriously destroyed within a few minutes. Also, strange reports had been coming in to Falco that unauthorised supply ships were landing in the location of this abandoned house. Clearing it with Fox, Falco decided to explore the house.  
  
And there was definitely something odd about it. Falco, deep in thought, was suddenly interrupted by a soldier.  
  
"Sir, we've found a hollow floorboard. It may be an entrance to something," the soldier informed.  
  
"Right, everyone to the floorboard. If there is something secret, it isn't going to be a secret for much longer!" Falco said.  
  
The army shuffled into a small, empty room. Falco aimed his laser at the part of the floor and fired. There was a large crack and a hole revealed a staircase leading into an orange light. Falco signalled with his gun that they were going in and then he started down the steps, slowly and cautiously.  
  
The stairway lead down into a narrow room with a locked door at the end. In the room were some control desks with monitors. One read, 'Attack on Warp Base'. Then Falco's instinct told him to duck.  
  
An enemy soldier swung a punch at him. Falco ducked down and then uppercut him. The door in front of Falco burst open and enemy soldiers ran through, shooting lasers. Falco's army ran down from the stairs and started attacking.  
  
They defeated the soldiers and made their way into another, much larger room. A space-freighter was prepared to take off. A monkey dressed similar to how Andross used to was walking into it. He turned around and saw Falco and laughed. The door closed and the freighter took off. Soldiers began shooting it but they had no effect. The freighter took off through a secret exit.  
  
Suddenly enemy soldiers poured in from nowhere and started attacking. They were armed with walkers. They started to shoot missiles at Falco's army.  
  
"Take cover!" Falco shouted. But his words were no use. The walkers were devouring his army, so Falco had to use his back-up plan. "Evacuate!"  
  
The army ran back out of the room, into the control room, up the stairs and out of the old dark house into the rain and the storm.  
  
Falco got his com-link out. "Execute plan discovery! I repeat, execute plan discovery!" he ordered.  
  
A fighter flew down from out of the clouds and flew over the house, dropping a dozen bombs on it. The old house shattered and the base underneath it exploded into flames.  
  
Falco looked up and through the rain he saw the freighter in the distance flying away. Who was that monkey?  
  
"So it's definitely a new enemy, Falco?" Fox asked over a com-link from Corneria. The reception wasn't very good because of the distance and the weather.  
  
"It was a new enemy all right, Fox. And they were planning some kind of attack on the warp base," Falco replied.  
  
"Okay, Falco, I'll check the criminal files and contact you in a few hours," Fox replied.  
  
"Sure. Oh! And another thing, Fox! You know how Andross' soldiers wore helmets with an 'A' on the front? Well, these soldiers had a 'K' on the front. It might mean something," Falco added.  
  
"K? Great, I think I might know who we're dealing with. I better go and see Peppy. Thanks Falco. Over and out," Fox replied.  
  
Fox stepped into his transport ship and was escorted to Sector X, to the SASB, to talk to Peppy. The ship swiftly and quietly flew through the System, through the asteroid belt, past Fortuna and Katina and finally docked on the massive space base. Peppy greeted him.  
  
"Fox, it's been a long time since we last met like this," Peppy said as he shook hands. Guards stood behind Fox and himself. The two friends began walking to the control centre. "It took me a while to get used to these guards following me everywhere I went, you know. Anyway, why are you here?"  
  
"You heard about Operation Thunderstorm?" Fox asked.  
  
Peppy sighed. "Falco didn't muck it up, did he?"  
  
"No, it was a complete success. But something worries me," Fox and Peppy walked through the doors of the control centre and into a mass of confusion. "Just like Corneria!"  
  
"As you can see, we aren't usually quiet. It's hard work controlling the Sectors and Observation Station. Anyway, what was it that you were worried about, Fox?"  
  
"Well, first of all, Falco spotted a computer monitor which read 'Attack on Warp base'. Whoever the new enemy is, they're planning an attack on the Warp Base," Fox informed.  
  
"Oh, we're always getting trouble there. The humans can be quite a problem sometimes. We've always got threats coming through threatening to destroy the warp base!"  
  
"Maybe so, but Falco also noticed something else. The person I think we are dealing with is somebody you told me about when I was a child. All of the soldiers in the base on Venom had helmets reading the letter K."  
  
"Kalgil? Fox! I told you what your father did to him. He couldn't possibly have survived from being frozen in liquid nitrogen!"  
  
"Listen. We have had reports from an ex-criminal that somebody with a name starting with K was thawed out from being frozen by liquid nitrogen about ten years ago," Fox explained.  
  
Peppy became serious. "Fox, if you are correct then you are in serious trouble. Kalgil was Andross' brother. He also bared a son who fought in a team; Andrew. Fox, you killed both of these people and if Kalgil is alive, you could be in trouble, serious trouble. We better get the warp base defended quickly."  
  
An officer ran up to the two men. "General McCloud," he said as he saluted Fox. Fox returned the salute. "We have an incoming message from Aquas City, it's for you." The man sounded urgent and handed Fox a small viewing screen.  
  
"Slippy!" Fox said as he saw Slippy's face on the screen. "What is it!?"  
  
"We've got great news, Fox! Come quickly!!!" Slippy shouted and the message went off.  
  
"I've got to go, Peppy," Fox said and shook hands with the hare.  
  
"It's been nice seeing you again, Fox. I hope everything goes well and we'll keep you informed," Peppy replied. He watched as Fox swiftly walked out of the room, followed by his four guards.  
  
TWO. THE END OF THE START  
  
Fox's ship quickly flew to the opposite side of the System from the SASB. Within an hour it had already reached Aquas. It hovered above the sea where a mobile docking bay rose up and opened. The ship flew in and the bay gradually moved back down into the vast ocean.  
  
After ten minutes the bay finally came to a stop and the doors opened. Fox got out of his ship and was greeted by Slippy and a few of his friends. Slippy was dressed in a white gown and he wore glasses.  
  
"Fox, just follow us!" Slippy said and he turned around and lead Fox and his guards through passageways and tunnels through the city. The tunnels were made of glass, giving a clear view of the ocean and the sea-life within it. "It's a beautiful sight, don't you think, Fox. Sometimes, when I need to think, I just sit in my room and watch the sea-life. Anyway, enough of that, it's time to get down to business." Slippy opened the door to a massive room. "Welcome to Research Room Twelve. This is where the heart of the science in this system comes from."  
  
"Where's my father Slippy!?" Fox shouted. He had seen his father's glass tube which held his father in suspended animation and it was empty.  
  
"Woah, calm down, Fox! This is why I've asked you to come here. Now listen to me closely and let me finish. Do not interrupt me.  
  
"Now, your father is alive once again. We have replaced all of his damaged organs and limbs with mechanical parts. He looks like something out of Frankenstein so don't looked shocked. Also, he won't know you," Slippy finished.  
  
"What!? You made my father breath again but he won't remember me?!" Fox shouted.  
  
"Shhh! Keep it down, Fox. Listen, his brain has been starved of oxygen for too long and his memory has, well let's say, gone missing. The lack of oxygen has somehow moved his memory to a different section of his brain, a section which is not used by us normally. We think somebody who he might remember will knock it back into it's rightful place and unlock his memory. Enter his room but be prepared if he doesn't respond to you," Slippy explained.  
  
Fox walked over to a small chamber inside the room. He knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in," a recognisable voice answered. Fox had heard it again! It filled his heart with memories of his father. He burst into the door.  
  
"Father!" he shouted with a tear in his eye. James McCloud stared blankly at him.  
  
"Excuse me, I think you have the wrong person. I am not you're dad, infact, I don't even remember my dad, or my life for that matter! I don't even know how I got here. All I remember is waking up from a deep sleep," James said. He was lying in a bed with wires attached to almost every part of his body.  
  
Fox walked over to his father's bed and sat beside him. "Father, it's me, your son, Fox McCloud. You used to be a Space Outlaw, a member of a team, the Star Fox team. Remember? You had a good friend called Peppy Hare. Pigma Dengar used to be on your team as well."  
  
"Dengar...Pigma. He...he was a traitor...In never knew the man. I've never even heard his name before. I'm sorry, I don't have a clue who you are. Could you please let me rest!" James said.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Slippy came in and walked over to Fox. "Could you come outside a minute please, Fox?" The two people walked outside and closed the door behind them. "Fox, when you mentioned Pigma to him we tracked movement in his brain. We could actually see his memory but it was only in one place for two seconds and it moved away. 'Pigma' seemed to make his memory relocate itself."  
  
An officer came over to Fox. "General McCloud, there is a message for you from the SASB." He handed a small viewing screen to Fox. Peppy's face was on it.  
  
"Fox, we have some interesting information. According to the Warp Base's files they say two hundred and twenty five ships have entered the warp but have not came out at the other end. It could be a large computer error but it is a slim possibility," Peppy informed.  
  
"Thanks Peppy," Fox said and the message went off. "Slippy, I don't want to but I have to go and report to the Warp Base. When is the next cruiser going through the warp departing?"  
  
"About two thirty," Slippy answered.  
  
"Okay, keep me informed on my father's progress and I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll see you later," Fox walked out of the room followed by his guards.  
  
"They're coming out of nowhere!!!" an officer shouted. The control room of the Warp Base was shaking and control panels were sparking everywhere. The lights had gone out. "We have sustained thirty three percent damage within the last two minutes. None of our shots are doing anything!!!" Another violent shake caused the officer to bang his head against the control panel. He fell unconscious.  
  
"Evacuate the base immediately!!!" the commander shouted.  
  
Pods started to blast away from the massive base but they were attacked and destroyed. The enemy was destroying the base with ease.  
  
The enemy were strange, unlike any of Andross' ships. They were flexible and looked like they had flesh and blood. Were they living? Two massive powerful arms reached out from the front and were it's main weapon.  
  
They attacked by not firing lasers at the base but by actually slashing at it with their arms. They continued to dig from the outside in. Fragments of metal were spraying everywhere, like soil being tossed from earth being dug out. Nothing was stopping them. Three minutes had passed and fifty nine percent of the base had been destroyed.  
  
But in the distance help arrived. Fifteen, fully armed cruisers sped into the battle scene, firing lasers out everywhere. They had no effect.  
  
The ships were actually hissing and squealing when they were attacking. The base was ripped in half.  
  
The lasers being fired from the fleet were starting to bother the 'Bio' ships, like an itch. They turned around from the now useless, damaged beyond repair, warp base and turned their attention to the fleet. They swiftly 'swam' through space and started to slash at the cruisers. One of the Bio-ships got to the engine of a cruiser and there was a massive burst of flames. The cruiser shattered into pieces. The Bio-ship survived the explosion. The cruiser had been defeated in twenty seconds.  
  
The other Bio-ships slashed and destroyed or ripped some of the cruisers in half. Within thirty five minutes the warp base and all of the cruisers had been destroyed. All of the Bio-ships started back into the warp without a scratch. They left behind one space station ripped in half and shattered or ripped in half cruisers.  
  
Fox was onboard the next cruiser to go into the warp. He stood in the control room. "Can someone tell me why the warp base is not responding to our calls?" Fox was getting impatient.  
  
"General, That's why," an officer said. He pointed to the screen in front of them.  
  
Before them was a scene of mass destruction. Wrecked cruisers and a space station greeted them.  
  
"General, we're picking up survivors on one of the cruisers. They have two minutes of life support left," an officer read out.  
  
"Well what are you waiting for, get them out of there!" Fox shouted.  
  
The officer pressed some buttons. "Five survivors have been transported into the medical room. They need urgent assistance which this ship hasn't got, sir."  
  
Another message came through to Fox from the medical room. It was one of the nurses. "General, we have a patient down here who is demanding to see you. He says his name is 'Bill'."  
  
"I coming down there right away!" Fox said and he ran out of the control room and through the ship into the medical bay. He saw Bill lying in a bed with a bandage around his head. Blood was seeping through.  
  
"I demand to see General McCloud now! I need to speak to him!!!" Bill shouted at the top of his voice.  
  
Fox walked over to him. "Okay, buddy, I'm here!"  
  
"Fox, I didn't think I would see you again when I was in that battle," Bill said softly. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Those...things were slicing through us like a hot knife through butter! We were no challenge to them. Our lasers done nothing. They defeated us, Fox...they defeated us quick. I'm telling you, we don't stand a chance against them. We don't stand a chance." Bill passed out.  
  
The nurse ran over. "Excuse me, General," she said as she saw to him.  
  
Fox's face filled with anger. Whatever had done this had made a big mistake...he thought. He sternly walked up to the control room. "Com-link with the SASB now," he ordered as he walked through the door.  
  
Peppy appeared on the screen before him. "Fox, what happened?"  
  
"I'm going into the warp. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Kalgil has to be stopped. I want Lylat to be a peaceful system," Fox said sternly.  
  
"But Fox, you saw what the enemy did to the cruisers and the base. You'll be destroyed," Peppy replied.  
  
"I know, Bill has already told me. Listen, if we're not back within half an hour, send the strongest cruisers through," Fox ordered. "Goodbye, Peppy." The message went off. "What firing capability does this cruiser have?"  
  
"General, excuse me, but this is just a supply freighter. If we are attacked we will surely be killed,2 an officer said.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll stop off at S.S.A. We'll be safe in the warp," Fox replied. "Now, enter the warp.  
  
The cruiser flew through the wreckage and through the destroyed warp base. When they entered the warp and started to travel at fifty times the speed of light, Fox knew something was wrong. He didn't get the same experience as he had before when he went through the warp. Instead he had a cold, evil feeling.  
  
"Sir, something has reversed the effects of the warp, although it is in it's early stages. However, when it is fully complete, it will change the mind and people will want to attack each other," an officer reported.  
  
"Sir, we've got five unidentified ships coming from our rear. They are unarmed," an officer reported.  
  
"Arm all shields and weapons and prepare for an attack," Fox ordered.  
  
The Bio-ships court up with the supply freighter and started to slash at it. The shields had no effect. Fox ordered the lasers to be fired. They hit the Bio-ships and also done nothing. One of the Bio-ships ripped one of the boosters off of the back of the freighter. And then they were out of the warp and the Bio-ships had disappeared.  
  
"We've sustained twenty three percent damage to the ship, sir," an officer reported. "The enemy has gone."  
  
"Good. Get me a com-link to General James McCloud," Fox ordered.  
  
General McCloud (from earth) appeared on the screen. "Fox! The last time I saw you was after the last battle with Andross. Where have you been?" McCloud asked.  
  
"General, has any strange bases or cruisers been built on or over earth?" Fox asked.  
  
"Er, not that I know of. If there was I would be the first to know about it. Why?" the General replied.  
  
"Just as I thought, Kalgil has somehow stopped in the warp and constructed a base. He's taken control of it."  
  
"Who's Kalgil?" the General asked.  
  
"Andross's brother. I think he might be after me because I killed his son and his brother. Anyway, if Kalgil has taken control of the warp you are in grave danger," Fox warned. But it was too late.  
  
"What is that?" the General said in disbelief.  
  
The freighter started to shake. Behind it, coming out of the warp, was a massive Bio-mechanical sphere. Huge tentacles were wrapped around it, protecting it from any attack. It was half the size of Earth's moon. Thousands of Bio-ships quickly followed it out of the warp. They scattered everywhere and disappeared down to earth's surface. Explosions followed.  
  
The space monster got closer to the freighter, making it shake more. "Sir, we cannot move," an officer reported. "It will collide with us in ten minutes!!!"  
  
"Evacuate the ship!" Fox shouted.  
  
Crew members started to panic and ran everywhere. Fox ran down to the medical room. He picked Bill up and ran to a ship which was about to evacuate. The rumbling got more violent which meant the Bio-weapon was getting nearer.  
  
Ships scattered away from the freighter and back into the warp. Meanwhile, the Bio-ships were ripping into the earth's surface.  
  
One of the officers onboard the ship Fox was on turned around. "They'll never destroy a whole planet!"  
  
But the Bio-ships continued to rip into earth. Then the Bio-sphere became active. One of it's tentacles suddenly extended quickly out and ripped straight through S.S.A. with one, clean strike. It had hit right into it's engine core which made it explode into thousands of pieces. At the same time another tentacle snapped out and ripped into another space station, causing the same effect.  
  
Other stations began to shoot the Bio-sphere but they had no effect. Shots began to fire up from the earth's surface and they, too, had no effect.  
  
The Bio-sphere suddenly let off a horrible squeal and launched all of it's tentacles at Earth. Holes appeared all over the planet. With half of it missing it was unable to stay in one piece. The planet collapsed on itself. The Bio-sphere had destroyed a whole planet.  
  
Fox then entered the warp. His heart sunk when he saw all of the other evacuees had been destroyed. A Bio-ship appeared from nowhere and started to attack the small ship. It slashed once with one arm and just missed the ship, causing it to move to the side. It slashed again and missed.  
  
It was then when Fox noticed the base. They zoomed past it but he just managed to get a glimpse at the massive, grey structure. Then there was a massive jolt from behind and the Bio-ship had slashed the back half of the ship off. Three of the crew were instantly sucked out and their bodies were crushed in the sudden change in speed. Fox was beginning to be sucked out. Then he heard a voice.  
  
"Fox!!!" Bill screamed. He was grabbing onto Fox's leg. Fox grabbed onto something but the suction was too great and he was sucked out...into space...  
  
THREE. ABDUCTIONS  
  
"Fox is unconscious. We must make the decision for him! We must close the warp now before the Bio-sphere attacks our system!" Peppy shouted at Lieutenant Frangu. Peppy was in his room. Frangu had again been put in charge of the army.  
  
"Okay, Peppy, you're right," Frangu said over the com-link. He turned around and ordered an officer to close the warp.  
  
An Observation Station hovering around the Lylat System aimed it's cannon at the warp. It shot out a strange white beam and it flashed on impact with the portal. It had broken down the atomic structure and made it collapse. The only parts of the warp remaining were the interior and the other exit.  
  
"Thank you, Frangu. Now I must bid you farewell because I have to contact Slippy," Peppy turned his com-link onto Slippy's frequency. Slippy's face appeared. "Slippy, we are in a dangerous situation, here. Have you thought of a way to give us a chance against the Bio-ships?"  
  
"Gee, it's been hard, Peppy, but all I've came up with is a modification for the shields. They will be able to withstand an attack from a Bio-ship," Slippy said.  
  
"Great! Well done, Slippy," Peppy said. "Peppy out." Peppy sighed. He walked over to a window and looked at the stars. He took a moment to remember his life as a young hare. His father had always taught him 'never to trust anyone but anyone can trust'. Then he thought about Kalgil. He didn't know an awful much about Kalgil. All he knew was that James managed to knock him into a lake of liquid nitrogen on one of their first missions as a team. At that point they didn't even know he had a younger brother.  
  
The Star Fox Team had brought an end to James' life, though (although he could well survive) but a start to a new one. The life of a new and better Star Fox Team, one which finally defeated Andross and freed the Lylat System from evil once again.  
  
But now the evil was back, and Peppy didn't know if he could stop it this time. He was reaching the end of his life. The weapons which Corneria had were no match for the new enemy. The base was impossible to reach, and he knew that Kalgil would get through the warp sooner or later. Then Peppy shuddered. Something cold was behind him.  
  
"Kalgil!"  
  
"Hello Peppy, it's good to see you again. Where's James. Oh yes, how could I forget, my brother killed him. Shame, he would have made a good slave for me. He would control one of my Bio-ships," a half-transparent figure said. His face looked similar to Andross' but even more evil.  
  
"What are you talking about, Kalgil?" Peppy sighed.  
  
"My brother made a mistake, he used weak metal instead of powerful flesh which is resistant to your lasers. They are controlled by my soldiers, you know. My soldiers live inside them and command them. They do and excellent job, don't you think? I caused the destruction of earth, you know. I control the sphere!" Kalgil explained.  
  
"You're even madder than Andross. At least he knew he wouldn't be able to rule over anything he destroyed. Your Bio-ships devour anything they come near to!"  
  
"Your right, I am mad. I just want to watch you pay for what you've done to my family!" Kalgil advanced on Peppy.  
  
"Security!" Peppy shouted.  
  
"Don't worry, Peppy, you weren't the one who killed my son and my brother. It was McCloud!"  
  
The guards burst through the door to find an empty room. Kalgil and Peppy were gone.  
  
Two Bio-ships flew out of the bright sky of the Fortuna and approached Fortuna City. People were terrified and fled for cover but as the ships came closer they materialised into monkeys armed with guns. They were at the gates to Fortuna Fortress, where the royalty had lived for centuries.  
  
They threw grenades at the doors but they didn't explode on impact. Instead they made the doors materialise into the soldiers'' bodies. They soldiers marched in and fired their lasers at any guards they saw. When the guards shot them the lasers materialised into their bodies too. Nothing was stopping them.  
  
A guard ran up to one of the soldiers and used hand to hand combat. He threw a punch and the soldier done nothing. The guard's hand sunk into the soldiers flesh. The soldier grinned as the guard screamed as he was sucked into the soldier's body.  
  
They two soldiers continued up the large steps in front of them, carpeted with red carpet and gold banisters. They had one aim, to abduct Katt Lombardi.  
  
Katt heard the soldiers' footsteps coming up the staircase and knew there was nothing that she could do. She ran to her son, Damiax and cuddled him. "It's okay, mummy's here."  
  
The soldiers materialised through the door and into Katt's room. They grabbed the cat and put a strange force field around her. Damiax got up and attacked a soldier but it was no use, the soldier pushed him aside and transported away. Damiax was left alone.  
  
Fox became conscious again with a groan. He sat up in his bed, rubbing the back of his head. He squinted in the light. "Excuse me, can somebody tell me what is going on?"  
  
An officer quickly ran over to Fox, followed by a nurse. "Sir, are you okay?" the officer asked.  
  
"Apart from a pain in my head, yes. Now, what happened. The last thing I can remember was being sucked out into the warp with Bill."  
  
"Sir, you were sucked out into space and we quickly got a cruiser to send an emergency shuttle to salvage you. The warp has been closed to prevent any Bio-ships from entering the system," the soldier explained.  
  
The nurse checked Fox over. He was okay.  
  
"I need to get back to the control room immediately to find out what is going on," Fox said. He jumped out of his bed and exited the room. He walked through the base and into the main control centre. Frangu was there.  
  
"Lieutenant Frangu. What has happened?" Fox asked.  
  
"We've have closed the warp by order of Peppy Hare. Two Bio-ships have been reported landing in Fortuna City, outside the palace. Two enemy soldiers were seen entering the palace and Katt Lombardi has been reported missing," Frangu explained. He got out of his seat and allowed Fox to sit in it.  
  
"Thank you, Frangu," Fox said. An urgent message suddenly appeared on the viewing screen.  
  
"General, Colonel Hare has been abducted. His whereabouts are unknown!" it was an officer from the SASB.  
  
"Who abducted him?" Fox asked.  
  
"Our surveillance cameras recorded this film." A black and white picture appeared on the screen showing Peppy and Kalgil. They seemed to be talking and then there was a white flash and the two people were gone. "We checked the unknown person's file and his name is Kalgil. Killed by your father, general."  
  
"Thank you, officer. Message out." the screen in front of Fox went blank. "Get me a direct line to the Venom base, ask for Falco," Fox ordered.  
  
It took a few minutes for the signal to get through and Falco's face appeared on the screen. "What's up, Fox?"  
  
"You're not going to like this, Falco. Peppy has been abducted by Kalgil. We don't know where he is. Also, Katt is reported missing. Last seen were two soldiers entering the palace," Fox informed.  
  
"What!? Katt's been abducted! Now he's pushing it too far!" Falco raged. "I'm going through!" The screen went blank.  
  
"Great!" Fox shouted. He knew that Falco could re-open the warp. He had the code.  
  
An officer turned around. "General, we have reports of ships attacking the Venom City. They are not Bio-ships."  
  
"Where are they coming from?" Fox asked.  
  
"Early indications show that they have came from somewhere around the Macbeth Wreckage," the officer answered.  
  
"Get the Sector Y fleet two split into two. I want two thirds of the fleet to enter the Macbeth Wreckage and the rest to attack the Venom attackers," Fox ordered.  
  
The officer pressed a few buttons. "General, it will take the fleet one hour at their fastest speed to reach Venom from their current position, the Asteroid Belt."  
  
"What the heck are they doing there? Right, are there any cruisers docked in the Sector Z base?" Fox asked.  
  
"Yes, three," the officer answered.  
  
Fox sighed. "What about Titania?"  
  
"Fifteen, sir."  
  
"Get them on it!" Fox ordered. "If the enemy isn't Bio, we can put up a fight!"  
  
"Sir, a single cruiser is leaving Venom. Falco is onboard," another officer reported.  
  
"Get me a com-link through to it," Fox ordered.  
  
Falco's face appeared on the viewing screen. "Fox, what is wrong with you?! Can't you see that we are slowly being beaten? Peppy is gone and so is Katt. My city is being destroyed and next it will be yours. Kalgil will destroy us if we don't act now!"  
  
"Kalgil will destroy us if we re-enter the Solar System. Don't do it, Falco...friend. I've known you for a long time, don't get yourself killed."  
  
"Now you say I'm going to die? I'm going in there to kick some monkeys' tails!" the message switched off.  
  
FOUR. 'GREETING'  
  
Eighteen cruisers sped toward the scene of the emergency. Their cannons were armed and their shields were up. The distant rocks which once made up Macbeth waited ahead of them. It was going to be tough. Bits of rock would be floating around everywhere.  
  
Macbeth was a victim of the previous war with Andross, Kalgil's brother. The small base had armed it's main cannon at the Megac Annon, which was under control of Andross, and were ready to fire. The Annon resisted and fired upon Macbeth, instantly ripping it's core in half, causing the planet's gravity to fade away, causing the destruction of a whole planet.  
  
The cruisers got nearer. On of them scanned the wreckage and found that there was a small base built on one of the large rocks. That was the source of the enemy.  
  
One of the other cruisers armed it's main cannon and shot it into the wreckage. The laser ploughed into the rocks but the end result was more rocks, making it almost impossible for the cruisers to get through. But more cruisers began to join in, shooting the rocks and destroying them, making a pathway deeper into the wreckage, closer to the base.  
  
Suddenly, out of nowhere, laser beams shot at the cruisers. The shields of the cruisers flashed as the withstood the shots, but it looked like they were coming from nowhere.  
  
Soon, one of the cruisers noticed a source of one of the lasers. It was coming from the one of the rocks. The cruiser aimed it's cannon at the rock and fired. The rock was obliterated into a million pieces and the laser ceased fire.  
  
Other cruisers soon started to find the source of the other lasers and soon no lasers were shooting. The fleet started through the rocks again.  
  
Next the base sent out hundreds of fighters to attack the cruisers. The fighters used the Cornerian fighters tactics from the previous war and flew through their shields. The cruisers managed to fight some of the fighters off but many were started to damage the hull of them. Soon, one of the cruisers began to crackle and fuzz. Flames burst out of one side of it and they were followed by more. The cruiser was destroyed.  
  
Falco ordered the codes to be entered into the warp to re-open it. One of his officers typed in the codes and the warp burst open with a large flash of light.  
  
"Full speed into it. I'm going to get my wife back!" Falco shouted. The cruiser began to shake and rumble as it got closer to the warp. "I need full speed before we enter. We need to get through there as quick as we can."  
  
The cruiser stared to speed up, making the engines hum loudly. It entered the warp and it closed behind them.  
  
Inside it was still grey and horrible. The cruiser flashed through the interior, quickly spotted by three Bio-ships.  
  
"Sir, we have three Bio-ships on our tail. Their gaining," an officer said.  
  
"Crank up the speed, we need to get through now!" Falco shouted.  
  
The cruiser's engine revved at full speed, making the cruiser almost travel at light speed. The Bio-ships began to fall back and then the cruiser burst out the other side of the warp.  
  
"Cut the speed!" Falco shouted. "Arm shields and cannons. I want to be ready for any attack." Falco looked out of the viewing screen. "Geez."  
  
Earth was just a mass of rocks, like Macbeth. The cruiser began to shake as it went through a water bubble.  
  
"This used to be part of the Indian Ocean, sir," an officer reported.  
  
"What about the rest of the system?"  
  
"Mercury has been destroyed. Venus has two hundred Bio-ships on it, along with a base. Mars has three bases built on it. We cannot detect anything beyond the asteroid belt," an officer reported.  
  
"He's taken over the Solar System as his base," Falco said to himself.  
  
"Sir, we have an incoming message," another officer said.  
  
The viewing screen flashed and Kalgil appeared on it. Peppy and Katt stood next to him. "Mr. Lombardi, nice of you to pay us a visit. I only have one message for you; surrender or die. What is it to be, Falco?"  
  
"Give me back my wife, Kalgil," Falco shouted. He walked sternly up to the screen.  
  
"Temper, temper, Lombardi! Okay, she'll be there in a couple of minutes," Kalgil ended the message with a menacing grin.  
  
"Sir, we have five Bio-ships approaching from Mars. They'll arrive in twenty minutes," an officer reported.  
  
"Lock onto their position and fire three missiles," Falco ordered.  
  
There was a beep and three missiles trailed away from the ship.  
  
"Intercept in ten minutes," the officer said.  
  
Another officer turned around. "Sir, five Bio-ships coming out of Earth's wreckage."  
  
"Surprise attack!" Falco shouted. "Fire all lasers at them!"  
  
The cruiser lurched around the face the incoming enemy. All of the cannons onboard started to flash and beams shot out. The Bio-ships flashed over the cruiser, not effected by the lasers. They counter-attacked by slashing at the shields. The cruiser rumbled but the shields managed to withstand the attack.  
  
The Bio-ships lurched around for another attack and approached the cruiser. The cruiser began to fire again, along with missiles. This time, Falco ordered them to concentrate on one Bio-ship. Loads of lasers flashed out toward the leading Bio-ship, followed by three missiles. The Bio-ship squealed and for a moment looked as if it had changed into...into...a soldier. The 'soldier's' mouth opened wide and tentacles flicked out of it, wrapping around it and mutating it into a Bio-ship again. The Bio-ship began to violently slash at the cruiser.  
  
"Shields are dropping rapidly, sir. Fifty percent...forty percent....thirty percent!"  
  
The cruiser started to shake violently.  
  
"Sir, we have the other six Bio-ships coming into our area now. Shields are fading."  
  
"Damn!!" Falco shouted. "Execute 'Greeting' on my mark...NOW!"  
  
The cruiser began to rumble and shake. Suddenly it exploded into millions of pieces in a flash of white light, like a nuclear explosion. The pieces scattered everywhere, hitting the Bio-ships and almost 'eating' into them. The all began to burst.  
  
After a few seconds the pieces of the cruiser began to come back together and reform the cruiser. Soon it had totally reconstructed itself.  
  
"Damage report!" Falco said.  
  
"Shields are down and thirteen percent of the ship is missing. Other than that we are okay, it worked!" an officer said.  
  
"Yes, but sir, Kalgil is angry. Twenty Bio-ships are approaching from all angles, surrounding us. Also, we are detecting a large mass, possibly the Bio-sphere," another officer reported.  
  
"Sir, we have another ship coming in from the Lylat System," the officer looked around with a shocked look on his face. "It's the Great Fox, sir!"  
  
Slippy ran into the main research room in the Aquas Research base, responding to the alarms ringing. A scientist ran over to him in a state of shock.  
  
"Sir, James has escaped!" he panted. "We don't know when or how but he's gone. We know that our research was a success, though, because he left this note." The scientist handed a piece of crumpled paper to him.  
  
Slippy read the message on it aloud; "It's been nice seeing you again, Slippy. It's a shame that the name 'Kalgil' jogged my memory. I hacked into the Cornerian Army Mainframe and it looks as though an old friend of my son needs a bit of help. Hope you don't mind me borrowing the Great Fox." The message was signed by 'James McCloud'. "Get the General com-linked to me now!"  
  
The Great Fox burst through the warp and began to slow down. James was onboard, full of old memories of when he, Peppy and Pigma used to soar through the system in this wonderful flag ship. It never let them down. ROB64 used to be there as well.  
  
He remembered when he first flew the Great Fox. It all started at a Space Port which was orbiting Fortuna. It was home to many gamblers, all gambling for money or ships, each trying to get a better one which they had.  
  
James had to stop there in his Arwing since it was low on fuel. Whilst he was there he saw a ship which was on offer. 'Great Fox, mother ship of beauty. Speed of fifty kigojonts, four high powered cannons and good manoeuvre. Also with the latest Robot Operated Body, ROB64!'  
  
So James bet and luck was on his side. He was soon reprogramming ROB64 for his voice and doing many modifications to it. He took it to show James and Pigma who thought it was brilliant. It would take time off of long journeys.  
  
On the odd occasion Pigma had to 'go out on important business'. Little did Peppy and James know that he was seeing the growing in power Andross.  
  
But that was the past. Now he had to look to the future, if there was one. He knew Kalgil well, until he killed him. Now he had to pay the price for his mistake. He and his son were both on top of Kalgil's hit list, and the Lylat System came second.  
  
Three Bio-ships quickly appeared from the wreckage of Earth, firing lasers from their claws at Falco's cruiser.  
  
"ROB, aim all cannons at the Bio-ship inflicting most damage on the cruiser," James ordered.  
  
The sight moved over the screen and onto the Bio-ship which was currently slashing at the cruiser, slicing through the hull. Bits of metal sprayed out everywhere.  
  
"FIRE!"  
  
Four lasers flashed out from the Great Fox's wings and hit the Bio-ship. The Bio-ship ignored the shots and turned around for another attack. The Great Fox continued to fire lasers at the same ship, but they seemed to do nothing. Falco's cruiser was suffering increasing amounts of damage and shooting from it was beginning to fade.  
  
"ROB, get a com-link to Falco," James ordered. Falco's voice appeared over the speakers.  
  
"Okay, Fox, I was wrong! Now help would ya?!" Falco shouted. Hissing was sounding in the back ground and there were sounds of people dying.  
  
"It's not Fox, it's his father. Anyway, You've got to get out of here now, Falco!" James shouted.  
  
After a pause, James heard Falco's reply. "Get us out of here, we're going back into the Lylat System."  
  
More Bio-ships suddenly came from nowhere and were attacking the Great Fox. The ship shook as the Bio-ships swooped over it and slashed at it's shields.  
  
"ROB, is Back Up Fox still working?" James asked.  
  
"Back Up Fox is still operative," ROB replied.  
  
"Activate BU Fox now!" James shouted.  
  
The Great Fox slowly began to change form. The four wings slowly moved to join each other and make two wings. The 'neck' of the ship began to move down to become the same level as the rest of the ship. The main part of the ship became flatter and longer. The Great Fox had turned into a ship which was made to fight.  
  
The Great Fox sped toward the cruiser which was moving toward the warp. It swooped over the Bio-ships which were attacking it and fired missiles at them. They all started to change back into soldiers but quickly turned back into Bio-ships and began to leave the cruiser and attack James.  
  
More Bio-ships arrived and immediately started to attack the Great Fox. The Fox sped around the space, shooting at as many Bio-ships as it could and not having any success. The Bio-ships started to weaken the shields.  
  
"ROB, lower all smart bombs into the docking bay," James ordered.  
  
"Warning, shields have crashed. Damage is being inflicted mostly on the right wing," ROB informed. "Smart Bombs ready."  
  
"Eject the docking bay on my mark. Three...two...one...EJECT!" James shouted.  
  
With a quick jet of air, the docking bay floated out into the middle of space. The Great Fox quickly turned around and, at full speed, headed back into the warp.  
  
There was a sudden beep coming from the ejected docking bay and the whole thing exploded into a white ball of fire. The Bio-ships around it were all killed instantly.  
  
The Great Fox zoomed back through the warp with three Bio-ships on it's tail. On the other side, in the Lylat System, it passed a motionless cruiser which belonged to Falco.  
  
"Sir, incoming message from the Aquas Research Centre. It's Slippy Toad, sir," an officer said.  
  
"Put him on the main screen," Fox ordered. He swivelled his chair around to look at the main screen. The control centre was getting busier, like it had in the previous war. "What is it, Slip?"  
  
The picture appeared on the main screen. It showed James' empty room. "This is what, Fox!" Slippy sounded excited.  
  
Fox stood up, alert. "Where's my father gone?!"  
  
"Woah, woah, Fox. It's good news. He's remembered! Kalgil was the name to jog his memory. He left this note saying that he's okay and he's taken the Great Fox to go through the warp and rescue Falco," Slippy explained.  
  
"What!?" Fox shouted. "He's going to get himself killed!"  
  
Another officer turned around. "Sir, we have incoming again from the warp. It's the Great Fox, with one heat source on it."  
  
"Yes! You're lucky, Slip! I've got to go now but I'll be talking to you later," Fox said to Slippy. The message went off.  
  
The officer turned around again. "Sir, we have an incoming message from the Great Fox. I'm putting it on the main screen."  
  
James' face appeared on the main screen. "Fox! My son! It's so good to see you. I don't mean to change the subject, though, but Falco's cruiser is running out of life support. I need a rescue team out here now!"  
  
"Father! I'm so..." Fox was interrupted.  
  
"Oh, and by the way, who said you could change the Great Fox? And why is it so low on energy?" The screen flickered. "I'm losing you, Fox. I'll be back soon and..." the message was cut off.  
  
Another officer turned around. "General, the cruisers which were attacking the Macbeth wreckage have been destroyed. The Venom City has sustained fifty nine percent damage. We have unidentified cruisers coming in from out of the system, possibly enemy. Fifteen Bio-ships have been reported entering the Lylat System from the warp. Their location is unknown."  
  
"Thanks for that news." Fox slumped back in his chair. He had to think of something and fast. The Bio-ships could still enter the system while the warp was still open. His system was being defeated in front of him and this time he was responsible for the actions.  
  
Suddenly the door burst open behind him. An unexpected person stood there. Fox looked shocked. The dog stood there. "Well where's my welcome party?"  
  
FIVE. UNIDENTIFIED FRIENDS  
  
Fifteen Bio-ships flew through the system at a fast speed. They reached a part of unclaimed territory, an area outside of the Lylat System and outside it's neighbour system, Dolphed System.  
  
As they flew through blank space a large object began to grow as they got closer. As the Bio-ships got closer it became obvious that it was a massive space station. This space station was obviously Kalgil's Lylat System Base since it had Bio-veins running all over it. It also looked heavily armed, with cannons pointing at the in-comers.  
  
The fifteen Bio-ships got even closer to the Station and landed in a Docking Bay. As they landed they began to transform into soldiers, and they looked tired.  
  
The door at the other end of the bay opened and Kalgil walked in, followed by two soldiers which held a long gun each.  
  
"What the heck happened? Where's my system and my Bio-ship. It was meant to be coming twenty minutes ago?" Kalgil asked. He questions only made him become more angry. It looked as if he had the same temper as his younger brother.  
  
"Well, sir, McCloud closed the warp somehow. We managed to get back because it reopened to let Falco through. It's closed now and we don't know how to get it back open," one of the soldiers said.  
  
"And where is Falco?"  
  
"We destroyed his cruiser's engine but there may have been survivors."  
  
"And where is the cruiser now?"  
  
"Just on the our side of the warp, sir. A ship called the Great Fox almost destroyed us."  
  
"The Great Fox...James? No, he couldn't have? Andross killed him. Or did he?" Kalgil said to himself. "Two of you, get back to the warp immediately and bring back Falco...alive!"  
  
The Great Fox had returned to it's normal form. James was waiting until Falco's cruiser had been salvaged. Two rescue ships had came and so far had found a few survivors, none of which were Falco.  
  
James' com-link blinked. He switched it on and the leader of the rescue team was there. "Did you send for back up? We have incoming," he said.  
  
James became alert. "Arm all weapons and raise your shields. We'll have to cut off the rescue operation. Get out of here!" James ordered. He watched the radar and two red dots came closer at a fast speed. Within seconds they had arrived.  
  
One of the Bio-ship zoomed into the area and started to slash one of the rescue freighters. The freighter helplessly shot at the enemy but it done nothing. The Bio-ship slashed through the shield and smashed it's way into the main hull of the freighter. Metal sprayed out everywhere.  
  
The Great Fox quickly moved over the Bio-ship and began to fire missiles at it followed by lasers. One of the missiles pierced to skin of the Bio- ship, sending a green liquid into space.  
  
The Bio-ship ceased attacking the freighter and turned around to face the Great Fox. It started to attack that when the other Bio-ship arrived. That took over the job of it's partner.  
  
The Great Fox shook as the Bio-ship slashed at the shields. Electric sparked but the Great Fox shot missiles and lasers at it to try and stop it.  
  
"Shield at nineteen percent and falling," ROB informed.  
  
"But back up power into the shields!" James shouted over the noised he held onto the computer to try and stabilise himself. "We won't let them defeat us!"  
  
"Shields raised to forty five percent and falling," ROB said.  
  
Soon, the missiles started to penetrate the skin of the Bio-ship. It suddenly shrunk back into a soldier.  
  
"Shields at one percent and levelling," ROB said.  
  
When James saw the soldier he quickly shouted, "FIRE A MISSILE NOW!"  
  
A missile trailed out toward the soldier. The floating soldier quickly started to grow again but it was too late, the missile collided with it and cut straight through him.  
  
"Yes!" James shouted. He had killed the first Bio-ship with normal fire power. He looked out of the viewing screen and saw that the two rescue cruisers had been slashed into pieces. All that remained was sparking pieces.  
  
"Shields at five percent and rising," ROB informed.  
  
"ROB, can you confirm the other Bio-ship's location?" James asked.  
  
There was a sudden jolt from behind and the Great Fox began to shake again.  
  
"Back up generator destroyed. Shields down," ROB said. "Incoming from the rear."  
  
"Identify!" James ordered.  
  
"Earth cruiser. Model 549, battle class. Speed, 5...fire power; missiles...90%..."  
  
"Okay! Okay!...What's earth?"  
  
"Earth, third planet of the Solar System, discovered in 2696 by the Star Fox team, venturing into a warp after being knocked off course. A newly discovered planet. Population..."  
  
"Okay, ROB!" James shouted. "Aim cannons at the Bio-ship attacking from the rear and fire."  
  
Lasers fired out of the cannons and hit the Bio-ship but nothing happened. It was ripping into the rockets at the back.  
  
"Warning! Laser power low!" ROB warned.  
  
The Earth cruiser suddenly sped into the battle area where the Great Fox was being attacked. It aimed all of it's lasers at the enemy ship and fired. Five laser bolts flashed out and collided with the Bio-ship. The Bio- ship didn't look as though it was effected. However, it did stop... and it did turn around.  
  
The Bio-ship zoomed over to the earth cruiser and began to slash at it's shields. Sparks flew everywhere. The earth cruiser began to fire more rapidly into the Bio-ship but it still done nothing. The Bio-ship rapidly and violently slashed into the shields, trying to get to the hull.  
  
Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and the Bio-ship started to shrink and turn back into a normal soldier. However, it quickly started to change back. The earth cruiser opened fire just as it was growing back and the soldier was burnt to ashes.  
  
James' com-link beeped and a familiar face appeared on the screen, although James didn't recognise it. "Ashes to ashes...dust to dust, eh?"  
  
"Pardon? Who the heck are you?" James asked.  
  
"General Pepper!" Fox said in disbelief. "What are you doing here?!"  
  
"It's Richard Pepper now, General. Anyway, I had nothing to do so I figured I'd come and pay a visit. Two good minds together are better than a thousand minds. Now, what's the situation? I hear there is a new kind of enemy...a Biotechnology enemy?"  
  
"Kalgil Coldule has discovered his brother's research and has made it stronger than ever. They have destroyed Earth and are entering the system through the warp," Fox explained.  
  
"Kalgil. He's dead, though," Pepper said, confused.  
  
"But somehow he survived."  
  
"You're going to have trouble on your hands, Fox. I get the impression he has it in for your family. Your father 'killed' him, you killed his son and his brother." Pepper paused for a while. "Can't you destroy the warp?"  
  
"He has kidnapped Peppy, Katt and supposedly Falco. It's too risky," Fox said.  
  
"Fox, you have to think wisely when you the General. I gave you my place to make these wise decisions. I understand you're predicament but you have to think about the rest of the system. All of their lives are at stake here," Pepper said.  
  
An officer turned around. "General.."  
  
Pepper and Fox turned around.  
  
The officer continued. "Kalgil has been reported flying over Fortuna City, eastbound. He is personally piloting the freighter."  
  
Fox growled. "I'll be back in and hour." He ran out of the control room in a hurry.  
  
Pepper faced Frangu. "Who's in charge?"  
  
SIX. REUNION  
  
Fox took off in his personal fighter and flew away from the base, away from Corneria. Within four minutes he was entering the asteroid belt. Firing the odd laser at a large asteroid and letting the shields demolish the rest, he exited and rapidly approached Fortuna. His engines worked hard, his fighter was the fastest ship in the System.  
  
Fox quickly broke through the atmosphere and zoomed through the clouds, ripping them in half. Below him, fields approached swiftly. He quickly pulled up and started speeding across the countryside of Fortuna.  
  
Fox com-linked to the Corneria base. "Where is his ship?" he asked impatiently.  
  
An officer appeared on the screen. "If you keep going at your speed you'll catch up with him in two minutes."  
  
That was all Fox wanted to know. He switched the com-link off and programmed in a count down for two minutes. Then his com-link bleeped and a horrible face appeared on the screen.  
  
"You fell for it, McCloud?" Kalgil said in his deep voice. "You know, I don't take ages to make my decisions, like my brother. If I want something destroyed or taken over, I'll do it. Now that you aren't in command of the control centre, my troops will...no, sorry...have taken over it. Lylat is almost as good as mine. Everybody in that centre is now one of my Bio- soldiers...Pepper, Frangu...everyone! All of the computer files, ships strengths and weaknesses, plans, all mine. And who's fault is it?  
  
"Anyway, you want a fight, do you? Well, it's time to avenge my brother and my son. I'm going to enjoy this. Chow!"  
  
Fox looked shocked. Was Kalgil telling the truth? Had he taken over the control centre? If he had, things could go down hill, and fast. But now he had to concentrate on killing Kalgil.  
  
Fox began to slow down as he radar started to pick up another, enemy ship. As Fox got closer he realised that it was Kalgil. He fired quickly but the two laser shots just collided with Kalgil's shields.  
  
Kalgil returned the shots with a missile. Fox quickly swerved out of the way and accelerated to get closer to him. Kalgil accelerated too. Fox started to shoot rapidly at the ship which was getting away. Fox was at full speed, the grassy meadows below him were a blur as the two ship flashed across them.  
  
Kalgil's shields stopped the lasers, And soon a forest appeared on Kalgil's radar. He couldn't go in there... he would be smashed to pieces. He would have to fly over...no, even better, pull off a U-turn. With a sudden halt, Kalgil turned around and flew back, over Fox.  
  
Fox was quick to respond. He, too, done a U-turn and again started to chase Kalgil.  
  
"Can't you go away? I'm going to be late for a meeting!" Kalgil shouted.  
  
"You won't be late, you'll never get there!" Fox said. He accelerated at his fastest speed. His speedometer glowed red which meant he was at full land speed. He started to catch up with Kalgil and quickly launched a Nova Bomb in front of him.  
  
Kalgil flew straight into it and his ship shook with the shock. But he continued to fly away. His ship was beginning to break the land speed limit. Fighters were designed to go at a certain speed above land and if they exceed this, the ship would cut power to it's engines. But Kalgil's didn't!  
  
The Fighter continued to gain speed and soon, Kalgil's ship was just a dot in the distance.  
  
"It's been nice, but maybe next time, McCloud..." Kalgil laughed.  
  
Suddenly another fighter came onto Fox's radar. It was a friendly ship. And it was getting closer to Kalgil.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, again...Fox!" Bill shouted.  
  
"Bill! You're okay!" Fox shouted back. Then it went silent. Fox looked at his radar. Kalgil and Bill had came in contact with each other. There was a long pause and the dot indicating Kalgil's ship faded.  
  
"That was too easy!" Bill laughed.  
  
"That's the problem," Fox replied. "Where were you, anyway?"  
  
"In Sector Y with Claura. She says she thinks she knows something about where Kalgil's base is. She reckons it's out of this system, in unclaimed space. Hey, what's happened back at the HQ, huh?" Bill said.  
  
"Kalgil says he has taken it over," Fox replied.  
  
"What!?... hang on, I'm picking something up on radar. It's a missile...no...two missiles...three...four...and their heading for us!" Bill said.  
  
"They're homing!" Fox shouted back. The two fighters began to be chased by four missiles, tow on each.  
  
"Good thing I had an eject system, huh? Did you really thing you could get me that easy? Oh well, I'll leave my robot to destroy you. He's one of the rejects of my experiment. The Bio V didn't quite take him over. I'll see you around, for now!" Kalgil said.  
  
Fox quickly thought of what to do. He quickly nose dived toward the ground and pulled up at the last second. The homing missiles collided with the ground and caused a massive explosion. Fox watched as Bill tried the same tactic. It worked.  
  
Then the 'robot' came into view. It was massive! It was similar to the walker which Fox had encountered on Corneria in his very first battle with Andross, but this one had more weapons and what looked like vines growing over it.  
  
One of the vines stretched out and swiped at Bill. Bill quickly evaded the attack and the vine slammed down on the ground, churning up mud and dirt.  
  
Missile shot out of it's launchers and began to follow Fox. Meanwhile, another vine began to attack Bill. Fox made the missiles follow him and he flew toward the walker. As he got close to it's legs he pulled up and the missiles collided with it. Vines fell off of it but nothing else happened.  
  
The other vines seemed to be following Bill and attacking him when they got close enough. Then the walker shot a continuos laser beam out of it's laser mounted on it's right shoulder. It hit the ground and churned up more mud. The walker turned around and aimed the laser at Bill. It collided with his engines creating a small explosion on the side of his ship.  
  
Smoke began to pour out of Bill's fighter and he fell toward the ground. He quickly ejected and landed safely next to his burning ship.  
  
The walker began to approach Bill and looked like it was going to try and stamp on him.  
  
Fox had to do something fast. He suddenly thought of a plan. He got the vines to chase him and then started to circle the Walker. The vines started to wrap around the walkers legs and as it walked toward Bill it began to stumble and fell to the ground. Fox finished it off with a nova bomb.  
  
Fox slowly descended and landed his fighter next to Bill's crashed ship. Fox opened his windscreen and jumped out onto Fortuna's grassy meadow. He walked over to Bill with some bad news. "My secondary fuel bump has burst. We can't get off of here."  
  
Bill was holding his leg which was stained with blood. Fox looked at it. "I landed on a twig stump when I landed. It's okay. You know, I was thinking, if Kalgil has taken over the control centre then we could all regroup in the SASB and plan from there."  
  
"If we can get off of here," Fox sighed and sat down next to Bill. Solar had began to set, casting long shadows and pale orange clouds. It was a nice scene, and the wind flew across the meadow, brushing the grass as it went. The only thing which ruined it was the destroyed Walker...  
  
Fox quickly stood back up.  
  
"Hey, I did remember to put deodorant on you know!" Bill said.  
  
"That's it!" Fox shouted. A smile had appeared on his face. "We've got to get this to the Aquas Base quickly..."  
  
A shadow caused darkness to fall on the two pilots. Engines hummed above them, a very familiar noise penetrated Fox's ears. They twitched.  
  
Fox looked up to see the Great Fox descend slowly toward them. The grass began to blow to either side of the Great Fox as it's huge hull began to get closer. As it did so, a mechanical hiss sounded and the landing supports lowered. Soon, the Great Fox landed elegantly.  
  
Bill was the first to see him. His mouth dropped, his eyes widened. He was seeing a legend. But how?...  
  
Fox looked at Bill's shocked face and then soon realised why. His body suddenly filled with new energy and he started to cry. He ran up the lowered staircase and fell into the arms of his father, that warm, protective cuddle. It reminded him of when he was young, when he came home from school and the door was answered by his father. He always answered the door unless he had a job.  
  
And then he remembered the last time he cuddled his father. It was when all the commotion was happening about Corneria being attacked by Andross' forces. His mother was worried, not for the fact that she might be killed, but the fact that James had to go and fight him.  
  
The Great Fox was ready for take off, Pigma was in the ship. Peppy was waiting with James. James cuddled his son with that warm grip and his last word were, "look after you're mother. I'll be back soon..."  
  
"Fox..." James couldn't think of anything to say. He was overcome with emotion. Fox sniffed and looked up at his father. James smiled. "You've grown!" Fox cuddled him again.  
  
Two hours later it had got dark and the parameter lights lit up the area around the Great Fox. Fox and his father had briefly talked about old times and other important things and Bill was still shocked to be talking to a legend in space history. He still couldn't believe it.  
  
The three people talked in the briefing room. "Now, I understand you have a predicament?" James asked.  
  
"It's Kalgil. He's re-invented Andross' technology and we can't stop him. He's also taken over the control centre," Fox explained.  
  
"I knew I should have killed him while I had the chance," James cursed.  
  
"But you did, didn't you?" Bill said, looking confused.  
  
"That's what I said to in my press conference, a little while before Andross," James began to explain. "We, the Star Fox and Pepper, agreed to make a story up to calm the public down. Kalgil was a bigger threat than Andross, he was more intelligent. It was just luck that Andross got me.  
  
"Anyway, we agreed to say that I killed Kalgil in a hand to hand combat in an abandoned warehouse on Venom. But really I pinned him to the floor and warned him that if I ever detected him in the system again I would have his ship shot to pieces before he even knew he was in it. So he was banished, like his brother, to a small space hut just out of the system. Obviously the news that you killed his brother and son bring back memories and he couldn't resist, with a new army and all that."  
  
There was a pause while Bill and Fox took this news in when Bill quickly reminded Fox. "The Walker!"  
  
"Oh! We'll have to load it into the docking bay," Fox said.  
  
James fell silent. "Guys, I forgot to tell you that when I was in the 'Solar' system I jettisoned the bay after I had loaded it with Nova bombs. Sorry."  
  
"We'll have to strap it on," Fox said.  
  
Bill looked at him strangely when suddenly the alarms went off.  
  
"Bio-ship approaching from two o'clock. Estimated time of intercept, two minutes," ROB confirmed.  
  
"It's good to hear you again, ROB," Fox said as they began to run to the control room.  
  
"I haven't heard him at all," Bill said. They entered the control room and quickly sat at the controls. "Nice!"  
  
Fox pressed some buttons. "One minute twenty..." he panted. "We'll never be able to fire up the engines in time! How long have they been off?  
  
"Two hours and ten minutes," James replied.  
  
"Way too long..."  
  
Bill was busy pressing buttons. "Wait, I can buy us some time! I can cause a reaction in the Retro Rockets which will give a small, powerful burst and send us up in the air, away from the passing Bio-ship. At the speed it's going it's trying to ram us, so it'll zoom past and take at least three minutes to intercept again. Good thing we can use the chemicals in Fortuna's unique air to crate the reaction..." all the while he was explaining he was pressing buttons and all the while he was explaining, the Bio-ship was getting closer.  
  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Fox asked.  
  
Bill paused and looked around as if to say, "come on, I know this stuff!" But it was the first time he had even been in the Great Fox! Bill already looked as though he knew it like Peppy. He began typing again. "Taking in consideration the Great Fox's weight and setting off the reaction at the precise time...yes!"  
  
"Yes," James added.  
  
"I'm starting to arm missiles now," Fox said.  
  
"Forty seconds until intercept," ROB informed.  
  
The three men were pressing buttons furiously. "This baby ain't going down that easy!" James shouted.  
  
"Entering oxygen into the retros," Bill said. "Retros are ready for firing. Now we have to wait..."  
  
Fox and James were still typing furiously and a single bead of sweat rolled down Bill's fur. He watched the radar intently.  
  
"Twenty seconds until impact," ROB informed.  
  
Bill leant forward across the desk, hand hovering above the button which would give the command to open the retros, letting the chemicals from Fortuna's air mix with his concoction and create the explosion which would send them into the air, to safety. He watched as the counter clicked down. The Bio-ship got nearer. Ten...nine...eight...seven....six....five  
  
Bill pressed the button and the Retros opened. Four...three...two... The Bio-ship was now visual. There was a sudden jolt and the Great Fox lifted into the air. At that precise moment the Bio-ship zoomed under it and clipped the bottom, pulling one flake of metal off. And it zoomed off into the distance.  
  
The Great Fox crashed back down, only damaging the ground. The crew cheered. "Nice one, Bill!" Fox shouted.  
  
But Bill was still watching the radar. He had predicted wrong. The Bio- ship was slowing down quicker than he thought. It would probably intercept again in thirty seconds, that he could be sure of. Oh Dang!  
  
"How long 'till the cannons are armed?" he asked.  
  
"Forty five seconds," Fox answered.  
  
Too long! There was no hope, he couldn't recreate the reaction again in time! There was no hope.  
  
But suddenly a red laser flashed down from the sky and continued to pelt into the Bio-ship. Green slime trailed off of it as the laser tore into it. But it continued to head back toward the Great Fox. The laser got wider and another joined it, aiming in the same spot. A missile shot down. From where? But it shot down and created a massive explosion. But the Bio-ship continued.  
  
Five...four...three...two... it was visual...for a moment.  
  
It suddenly exploded and bits of goo smashed into the Great Fox. The lasers had worked...just in time. But form where?  
  
The com-link bleeped. General James McCloud appeared on the screen. "That drained all of our laser power, we're lucky we could keep it going!"  
  
"General McCloud!?" Fox said.  
  
"Hasn't your father told you?" the General said. "We're above Fortuna. Anyway, what exactly is going on?"  
  
"It's a long story. Right now we have to get the Walker to the Aquas Base..."  
  
"Fox," Bill said with a horrible look on his face. "The control centre is down."  
  
SEVEN. RECAPTURE  
  
Five freighters from the earth cruisers had landed to help with the docking of the walker. General McCloud had met with the three men and was explained to what had happened. The four men stood outside, lit by the Great Fox's flood lights.  
  
"Be careful! This is our only chance!" Fox shouted at the work men who where throwing huge straps over the Great Fox.  
  
"You know," Bill said. "Kalgil's gonna do as much as he can to stop this getting to the Aquas base. That Bio-ship was just to find out what we're doing. There's gonna be trouble. General, could you escort us?"  
  
"Sure, he's destroyed our planet in a couple of minutes, I'll do anything to help you stop him!"  
  
"Our biggest threat is The Bio-sphere. If that gets through the warp then we're doomed," Fox said.  
  
"This is getting drastic, now. The control centre has been taken over so Kalgil knows our strengths and weaknesses, people have been abducted and we don't know where they are..." Bill was stopped.  
  
"General McCloud.. there is a message for you!" a worker said as he came over. He held a com-link in his hands.  
  
Fox took it, knowing it was for him. "Slippy, it's good to see you! Falco and Peppy have both been abducted and we don't know where they are.."  
  
"I do," Slippy said in the middle of Fox's speech.  
  
Fox paused. "What?"  
  
"I do. Kalgil has created something which sets off of chemical reaction in the body which in turn, mutates the cells and creates a totally different being, and powerful. In this case, he has made his soldiers turn into the Bio-ships. That is why you see the Bio-ships turn into soldiers when you have weakened them. The damage cuts off the reactions to the cells, therefore stopping the mutation. However, it only takes a short while for it to start up again. That's all I can give you right now. If only we had a specimen," Slippy explained.  
  
"Then you'll like what I've got. We've got a walker down here and it's half mutated. It could give you some vital information and we need it. We're loading it up onto the Great Fox and will deliver it to you as soon as possible," Fox said.  
  
"That's great!" Slippy shouted in his excited voice. "It's a real shame about Peppy and Falco but I'm sure they'll be fine. With the specimen I'll be able to find a cure. Oh, and Fox, why can't I get in contact with the control centre?"  
  
"It's been taken over by Kalgil. He knows all of our secrets now..."  
  
"OH NO!!!" Slippy shouted and the screen went blank.  
  
Slippy rushed over to one of the computer desks in the research centre. "We have to stop the information sending now!"  
  
Slippy, once finishing his testing, loaded up his findings about the Bio- ships onto the computer with a few other important bits of information and was sending it to the control centre, straight into Kalgil's hands!  
  
Slippy began to type quickly;  
  
interrupt data send immediately  
  
data interrupt commencing...please wait  
  
please enter password...  
  
*******  
  
data sixty percent loaded...twenty percent sent. ERROR! cannot interrupt.  
  
"Oh no!" Slippy shouted. WHY!? He began typing quickly;  
  
override safety programs  
  
overriding....overriding complete  
  
ERROR! twenty percent of information is missing.  
  
Just great! Kalgil had already locked out the information which was sent. He had to get it back. But the other information was still being sent...and it was getting near the important pieces!  
  
interrupt data send  
  
interrupt commencing...  
  
interrupt complete... !!!twenty percent of data missing...maybe lost  
  
withdraw missing data from location corn4a05  
  
searching...  
  
twenty percent data found  
  
commence withdrawal procedure.  
  
commencing...  
  
enter password...  
  
"NO!" Slippy shouted. He had to get the information back but Kalgil had already password protected it...  
  
KALGIL  
  
INCORRECT PASSWORD!  
  
andross  
  
INCORRECT PASSWORD!  
  
coldule  
  
INCORRECT PASSWORD!  
  
james  
  
INCORRECT PASSWORD!  
  
fox  
  
INCORRECT PASSWORD!  
  
mc cloud  
  
INCORRECT PASSWORD! WARNING!!! COMPUTER VIRUS SET ON NEXT INCORRECT PASSWORD  
  
lylat  
  
PASSWORD ACCEPTED!  
  
withdraw information  
  
withdrawing information... withdrawal complete  
  
"YES!" Slippy shouted. He done it! Kalgil had lost the vital information which could have led to the end of the system. His com-link bleeped.  
  
"Slippy, what happened?" Fox asked.  
  
"I'm sorry, Fox, but I was sending the information to the control centre but I withdrew it just in time," Slippy explained. "Anyway, Fox, I need to talk to you. It's about the Team. I'll see you soon."  
  
"Oh, Slippy, since you are in Kalgil's mainframe, can you get the information back from the centre and send them to the SASB?  
  
"I'll try, but Kalgil might find where I'm coming from and log me off. But I'll try," Slippy said, sounding determined.  
  
Great, I'll see you soon," Fox said. The com-link turned off.  
  
They were in the Great Fox, flying away from Fortuna, escorted by the earth fleet. There were forty in all, carrying the remaining survivors of the human race. The question was, would they be able to survive much longer?  
  
Fox contacted the SASB. "Good afternoon, colonel Frederish. I'm glad you're doing a good job in Peppy's place."  
  
"It's good to hear you, General. I thought you were in the control centre when it was taken over. I heard that Pepper was, though. Anyway, why are you calling?"  
  
"Well, Slippy's going to try and get the files and send them to you. Since Corneria's down, we need to use the SASB as a base," Fox explained.  
  
"Certainly, sir. I'll get the Station ready," Fredirish said. The com- link went off.  
  
Fox turned to Bill. "Bill, I saw how you handled the situation back there. I was wondering, would you think about joining the team...I'm going to start it back up."  
  
Kalgil shouted. "What the heck happened?! Where's my files?!"  
  
"Sir, Slippy withdrew them," a man said. He turned around. His face was covered with a cloth. "Good news, isn't it?!" The man pulled the cloth away and revealed blue feathers and a yellow beak. He pulled out a laser and fired it at Kalgil. It was Falco.  
  
Kalgil quickly jumped out of the way of the laser. "Get him!" he shouted as Falco ran out of the door.  
  
Falco knew this base like the back of his hand. After all, he came here loads! He ran as fast as he could, firing at the odd, unsuspecting guards. He sensed the amount of guards chasing him were getting larger. But he continued to run to the docking bay.  
  
Lasers stared firing at him. He was lucky that the guards weren't good shots. He fired the odd laser shot backward. Even though the base was overtaken by Bio-technology, he still knew his way around.  
  
Alarms sounded, but Falco continued to run. Run to the place where he last saw his Arwing, a few years back. He didn't have much time. Now that all the alarms were sounding the whole base would be alert.  
  
He ran around a corner and quickly fumbled through his tatty coat pocket. He pulled out a disc and pressed some buttons on it. Then he dropped it and continued to run. He heard an explosion behind him and guards screamed as they were tossed into the air. He had planted a mine.  
  
But guards still chased him. He came to a thin, glass corridor. He could see outside, out onto the whole of the city. Then he stopped. He was surrounded. He had ran into more guards. He quickly turned around when the guards which were chasing him arrived.  
  
"Mister Lombardi, you will undergo the Bio-take-over," one of the guards grinned. He shot his laser at Falco's head.  
  
He reacted quickly with his alert sight and hearing. All Avians had it. He ducked and the laser his another guard in the face. Falco looked around quickly. The docking bay glass roof was below. In it was his ride out of here...his old Arwing.  
  
So he leapt out of the corridor, smashing through the glass. He spread his arms apart and used his fathers to glide down. When he got near to the docking bay roof, he curled into a ball and smashed through the roof, shattering more glass. He landed with a thud but was okay. The guards were shooting at him frantically from the corridor above.  
  
Falco looked around and saw his Arwing. He jumped into it and started the engine. It hummed into life, the engine flashed and he zoomed out of the bay and began to head for Aquas.  
  
"We've got five Bio-ships approaching from all angles!" James shouted, looking at the radar.  
  
"I see 'em!" Fox said.  
  
"I told you he wouldn't let us go easy," Bill said.  
  
"Arm all weapons. Raise shields. We ain't running!" Fox commanded.  
  
The earth fleet regrouped and started to surround the Great Fox.  
  
"What are they doing?" Bill said.  
  
"They're protecting us," James replied. "Very thoughtful!"  
  
The first of the five Bio-ships sped quickly to the scene, followed by two others. They began to slash at the earth cruisers' shields, created sparks of electric.  
  
The Earth cruisers retaliated by firing hundreds of laser bolts at the attacker, continuously. They seemed to do no damage. Long range lasers shot out to one of the incoming three and followed it as it flew over the cruisers, slashing as it did so.  
  
The Great Fox was buried deep inside the masses of cruisers, adding a lot of protection. There was a lot of movement from the fleet, and the odd opening appeared every now and then, leaving the Great Fox and the Walker venerable.  
  
The remaining two of the Bio-ships appeared quickly, beginning to slash at the cruisers. They all seemed to be slashing at one cruiser, apart from the Bio-ship flying over the fleet and slashing it. Sparks flew everywhere and soon stopped. The Bio-ships had defeated one of the cruiser's shields. They quickly began slashing at it, severely damaging it, ripping chunks of metal off.  
  
The fleet continued to shoot the enemy, but it still done little damage. The Bio-ships were winning. With one more slash, the cruiser was ripped in two and exploded. The Bio-ships began to attack another of the cruisers. They were slowly ripping through them all, trying to get at the Great Fox, to reclaim the Walker.  
  
Then the thought suddenly dawned of Fox...one of them might be Peppy!  
  
The starry black sky filled the air as he broke through Corneria's atmosphere. But he felt guilty. He had left some innocent people behind, being taken over by the Biotechnology. Kalgil was trying to take over Corneria...maybe make it into a Biosphere!  
  
Falco had to get back to Aquas fast. He wanted to find his team mates again...well, Slippy and Fox. He wondered what had happened to Peppy. He must have been taken over by the Bio-technology. He must be one of those ships!  
  
And his wife...Katt! And little Damiax, his son. He wanted him to grow up to become a good a fighter pilot as he was. But to save them both, Katt and Damiax, he had to get to Aquas.  
  
His body hurt and he had a few cuts from when he had jumped through the glass, but he was okay. And so was his Arwing. It was at full shield strength and Hyperlaser setting, with eight Nova Bombs loaded and one missile ready. Brilliant. It made him want to be back in the Star Fox Team again, just like old times. Then trouble.  
  
His radar blinked, indicated one Bio-ship entering his area. The thing most have followed him! It must have been one of the guards from Corneria. But he wasn't going to run...it wasn't his nature. He turned to intercept the incoming enemy.  
  
It got closer, and so did Falco. He started to fire his lasers in the direction of the enemy. But it kept on coming. He launched a nova bomb, followed by another. He heard them explode, but it was still coming. Then it appeared. Falco's Arwing began to shake as it got closer, it was going to ram him. He quickly steered out of the way and his ship rumbled violently as the body of the Bio-ship flashed past. It was so close that he could see the guard inside, with veins coming out of his mouth and spreading around the rest of it's body. And then it was gone.  
  
Falco recovered. He watched the radar as it went away. It was going! But before he relaxed it began to slow down, and turn around. It wasn't finished with him. It got faster as it sped toward him for another attack.  
  
It got closer and soon Falco could see it. He quickly moved out of the way but it knew Falco was going to do that so it reached out with it's arm and slashed at him.  
  
Falco's Arwing rumbled violently and his wing was smashed off. This time the Bio-ship had stayed in the area. Falco swung his ship around to face the Bio-ship. He started to shoot it with his hyperlasers and he launched his only missile. They trailed off toward the unmoving Bio-ship and collided, and done nothing.  
  
The Bio-ship, without warning, sped up to him and smashed his other wing off, making him spin around. Falco knew there was nothing else he could do but run. So he boosted as fast as he could away from the Bio-ship. But it began to chase him.  
  
Falco quickly programmed the course for Aquas, which was more or less straight in front of him, and then there was another bang and Falco hit his control panel, knocking himself out.  
  
"I thought I might let you have one last look at your friends before you die!" Kalgil was com-linked with the Great Fox. "Mr. Hare, Mrs Lombardi and the old General are there, slowly destroying you. I will have that Walker back. You can't win. And soon I will reopen the warp to bring my Bio-sphere through. And if that fails, I have two Bio-spheres in the process of being made...my base and the whole of Corneria will soon become one. Either way, you'll die!"  
  
"Kalgil, it's a shame to see you again," James said casually. He knew Kalgil best, better than no one else.  
  
"James!" Kalgil sounded shocked. But he quickly disguised that. "You won't stop me again. Besides, you're too old. Give it up!" Kalgil went off.  
  
"What the heck are we going to do now?!" Bill shouted. They couldn't kill their own friends.  
  
There was a short pause. "Order the fleet to cease fire," Fox ordered.  
  
"Command sent," Bill replied.  
  
There was another, longer pause. The three people were deep in thought. "I've got it!!!" Fox shouted. "Fire all weapons on one of the Bio-ships..."  
  
"But that'll kill 'em!" Bill shouted.  
  
James thought about what Fox just said. "No, Fox is right. You can kill their outer shell, revealing the actual person. If it's a soldier, we can kill it, if it's one of our friends, we pull 'em in with a tractor beam. Right?"  
  
"Exactly!" Fox replied.  
  
There was a sudden explosion which made the Great Fox shake a bit. Another cruiser had been destroyed.  
  
"But surely they'd grow back into a Bio-ship once inside a cruiser?" Bill proposed.  
  
"Maybe, but it's a risk we'll have to take," Fox replied.  
  
"I'm sending the message through," James said. "Concentrate all fire on one Bio-ship. If soldier, kill it. If friend, fire tractor beam," he said to himself as he typed. "There, message sent."  
  
The fleet responded by shooting all lasers at one Bio-ship. They fired missiles but the ship didn't give up. It kept attacking, along with the other four. The Great Fox crew watched in anticipation. Finally, the Bio- ship exploded, revealing....a soldier. a cruiser quickly fired and the soldier was burnt to a crisp.  
  
The fleet then turned to the next Bio-ship. They repeated the process. The Bio-ship, after a while, exploded, revealing Pepper. A blue beam quickly shot out, but it was too late, veins leaked out of Pepper's mouth and the Bio-ship grew again. Getting it's bearings, it began to attack again.  
  
"Dang!" Bill shouted.  
  
"They've got to react quicker!" Fox said.  
  
The Fleet began to fire at the same ship, trying to release Pepper from the disease. After a while, the Bio-ship exploded again, revealing Pepper. This time the blue tractor beam was much faster and instantly court Pepper, because they knew it would be him. Pepper quickly disappeared into the docking bay of a cruiser.  
  
After another two attempts, they recaptured Katt. But then something strange happened. One of the two remaining Bio-ships evacuated the area. The fleet quickly tried to shoot it down, but it quickly gained speed and vanished.  
  
The last Bio-ship slashed violently into a cruiser, quickly defeating it's shields. It began tearing into the hull, ripping it open. And then it exploded, revealing a soldier. With one last laser blast, the soldier was killed.  
  
Peppy had left.  
  
EIGHT. DRASTIC MATTERS  
  
"He's gone!" Fox said, shocked.  
  
A single tear fell from one of James' eyes, but he quickly wiped it away. "We'll have another chance. At least we've got Katt and Richard."  
  
"Sure," Fox said. "Anyway, the only hope of us getting him back is by getting to Aquas. Let's hope Kalgil doesn't send anymore Bio-ships out."  
  
"Fox, did you hear what Kalgil said?" Bill reminded. "He's going to reopen the warp."  
  
"Get me com-linked to The SASB. I want Colonel Frederish on the line now!" Fox ordered.  
  
The screen flashed, and Frederish's face appeared on the screen. "General, what happened to Peppy? You lost him?"  
  
"Arm the Warp destroyer," Fox ordered. Soon after the warp had been discovered, Slippy and the other scientists began working on a signal which would close the warp, in case of emergency's, like now. About five months later, they created it. The only problem was, once it was closed, it couldn't be reopened.  
  
"You're destroying the warp?" Frederish asked.  
  
"Just do it, Colonel!" Fox was getting frustrated.  
  
There was a pause as Frederish walked away from the screen. When he came back, he said, "fifty minutes until warp closure."  
  
"Fifty!?"  
  
"It hasn't been armed for ages, it takes time to heat up, General," Frederish replied.  
  
"Okay, we'll be there later," and the com-link went off.  
  
Onboard the cruiser which had captured Katt and Richard (Pepper), General James McCloud paid a visit.  
  
With his brown hair and green eyes, smartly dressed, he walked down to the docking bay, where the people had been isolated. He looked through the reinforced glass at them.  
  
The huge docking bay dwarfed them, but from what he could see, they weren't themselves.  
  
It looked like they were attempting to change back into the Bio-ships. they kept opening and closing their mouths, but with no hope.  
  
James grabbed the microphone and spoke to them. "Katt, Pepper, you're safely onboard an earth cruiser."  
  
"Let us out of here or horrible things will happen!" Katt shouted.  
  
James turned the microphone off and turned to an officer. "Get them to a better place and start working on them," and he walked out of the room.  
  
"Kalgil's threatening to open the warp and send his Bio-sphere through-the thing that destroyed your planet. I've contacted the SASB, the Sector Authority Space Base, and they've armed the warp destroyer. However, it's going to take them fifty minutes to fire it, which could be too late," Fox said over the com-link with General McCloud.  
  
"You're right. Can't you send something to the warp area just in case?" James asked.  
  
Fox paused. "Good idea, I'll order the Sector Y fleet to go there."  
  
"I'll send some of mine as well," James said. "Oh and another thing, to stop all the confusion, call me Jim. Anyway, we've got your friends but they seem out of character at the moment so we've isolated them. Other than that, you've got a clear ride to Aquas!"  
  
"Aren't you coming?" Fox asked Jim.  
  
"I'm going to fight those Bio-ships. I've got a score to settle."  
  
"I understand. And one more..." Fox was interrupted as the Com-link switched transmissions. James and Bill quickly rushed over.  
  
It was Kalgil. "Hello, gang! That was a good plan you had, and it's not good that you got two of your friends back, because Mr. Hare is going on a one way trip back to the Solar System.  
  
"Now let's look at you situation, shall we? If you shoot the warp destroyer, you may be able to stop my plan, but Peppy will be gone forever!"  
  
"But you won't be able to open the warp before he gets there," Bill interrupted.  
  
"Why, the warp will be opening in...eleven minutes. That means that my Bio-sphere will follow approximately thirty minutes. Oh, and remember my back up plan!" And Kalgil went off.  
  
"He said eleven minutes for the warp to open. He'll send the Bio-ships through then. That's gonna be trouble!" Bill said.  
  
"Thirty minutes after that and the Bio-sphere will come through. Eleven plus thirty is forty one. How long are we in to the warp destroy countdown?" Fox said.  
  
"Five minutes," James answered.  
  
"Forty six minutes...Dang! Too late! We can't close the warp in time!" Fox shouted.  
  
"Fox, listen to the enemy more carefully, sometimes they can give clues, weaknesses or hints. Kalgil said approximately thirty minutes. We might still have time," James said. He always used to give useful advice.  
  
"Well we still have to get back to Aquas. That's our main priority. Bill, contact the SASB and tell them to send the Sector Y fleet to the warp. We have to try it," Fox ordered. He looked out of the window and through the masses of cruisers, he saw fifteen break away.  
  
The Arwing's computers had worked! Within a few minutes, Falco was being pulled into Aquas' atmosphere. The dark sky started to lighten and turn blue. As the Arwing burst through the clouds, the sea appeared below it. It was raining and stormy, the waves were strong and high.  
  
Falco groaned and lifted his head away from the controls. He instantly felt the speed and looked up. His computers had worked, He was just about to...  
  
And then SPLASH! His Arwing plummeted into the Aquas ocean. He frantically looked around. Slippy maybe would have liked it, but Falco belonged in the sea.  
  
He looked at the control screen which showed that the last bang which he could remember had split his fuel tank. He couldn't escape. And he hated water!  
  
He started to thump his cockpit window but it was no use. He was sinking...and running out of air! He continued to thump the glass and eventually a small crack appeared. The attack must have weakened it. The crack started to grow as pressure was forced upon it. Then water started to drip in, and the dripping became a steady flow. And the steady flow started to become stronger. But it didn't get any stronger than that.  
  
Great! Falco thought. If the water kept coming in, he would drown. So he thumped once more and there was a sudden gush of water, a crackle of electric and then he was forced upward by an air bubble,  
  
It wasn't long before his head broke the surface, and he gasped. He looked around at the storm surrounding him. Endless, stormy sea. He was soaked. And he hated water! He went up and down, up and down with the waves. He tried to keep swimming, but he started to become weak. he would never find one of the Aquas City docking bays. But he had to keep swimming.  
  
And then, from out of nowhere, he heard the humming of an engine, growing louder, and nearer. But he listened deeper over the sound of the waves, and heard the sound of many cruisers. He looked up and saw a whole fleet coming down from the sky!  
  
The Great Fox had now gone in front of the fleet again, now that they were out of danger. The sea looked rough in front of them, and the rain created many splashes in the ocean. And then Fox noticed movement.  
  
He looked closer but he couldn't see from this height. "Scan the sea ahead..."  
  
But ROB64 had already done so. "Body located in ocean, alive. Identification...Falco Lombardi."  
  
"Falco!" the three men gasped.  
  
The fleet grew closer, but one ship broke off. Falco tried to stay above water. He rubbed water out of his eyes to see the approaching ship. They had found him!  
  
He looked closer and saw that it was the Great Fox! His team! Slippy! Fox! Peppy? It would be like old times! The four of them again. He didn't quite like being in the army now, anyway. But suddenly his arms gave way and he couldn't stay above water anymore. His feathers had become water logged, and the weight pulled him down, back below the stormy sea.  
  
The Great Fox started to hover just above the water, the part where the docking bay used to be was being splashed by water.  
  
Fox ran to the main door leading out of the control room, followed by Bill. It opened and the wind and rain hit him in the face, forcing him back a little. He couldn't see Falco anywhere. So he leapt into the water.  
  
He hit it hard and he started to swim down. He could already see Falco, trying to swim up. Fox swam further down and just managed to grab Falco's arm, and he pulled him up, back to the surface once more. He was heavy, but Fox wrenched him up.  
  
When Fox broke the surface, the Great Fox was mainly under the water. The door to the control room was in easy reach. Fox pushed Falco up and Bill grabbed him. Then Fox leapt up and back into the Great Fox.  
  
As Fox and Falco dried off, Fox, Bill and James explained everything. Although Falco was a little disappointed about the team, he was pleased that Fox was going to start it up again, along with two more members, Bill and James.  
  
The Great Fox was making it's decent into the Aquas City when Bill told them the bad news.  
  
"The warp has been reopened!" Bill looked confused. He was reading ROB's main computer output. "ROB, says that only mechanical cruisers are coming out, and they're not that powerful."  
  
"Good, the Sector Y fleet can deal with them. Right now, get the Walker ready for off loading," Fox said.  
  
"Wait," James said. "I know what Kalgil's doing. He knows that the Sector Y Fleet will be there, so he's sent the cruisers through to get them out of the way, so that the Bio-ships have an easy ride into the system."  
  
The door suddenly opened and Slippy stepped in wearing a white cloak. "Fox! It's good to see you again in person! It's a shame about Peppy, and I thought Falco was..."  
  
"Yeah, well I'm not, Slip. I'm not as weak as some people," Falco said sarcastically. He stormed out of the Great Fox, down the steps and walked off into the Aquas City.  
  
"Slip, it's good to see you, too, but we've got to get this walker researched on," Fox said.  
  
"Yes, you're right, it's our only chance."  
  
The white warp opened with a flash of white light, and the fleet were ready for them, weapons armed. But to their surprise, it was cruisers which came through. They immediately opened fire on the fleet, colliding with the shields.  
  
The Sector Y Fleet (SYF) quickly returned the attack, aiming all lasers on the same cruiser, with continuos shots. Red lines streaked over toward the warp and collided with the enemy cruiser's shields. Sparks flew and soon the shield was down. The lasers continued to shoot, ripping through the main hull of the enemy cruiser, tearing bits of metal off.  
  
The lasers burnt their way through, surprisingly fast, and soon they hit the main engine, and the cruiser exploded.  
  
The enemy were counter attacking strongly, using the same method of aiming for a single cruiser. But their lasers weren't as strong and failed to break through the shields quickly. Meanwhile, the fleet were already firing upon one enemy cruiser.  
  
"This is easier than before!" Jim said to Claura over the com-link.  
  
"Hey, Jim, I'll just remind you about the Bio-ships. Our laser power will probably be out by then," Claura replied.  
  
The enemy cruisers began moving to different positions, still firing. And then hundreds of fighters were dispatched, quickly shooting upon the SYF, but doing little damage.  
  
"We can play at that game!" Claura said.  
  
"I'm beginning to like you, Claura," Jim replied.  
  
Fighters from the SYF quickly dispatched to fight the enemy.  
  
Suddenly a single Bio-ship appeared from behind the SYF and flashed past them, into the warp.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Jim said.  
  
"Dang! It was Peppy!" Claura shouted. "I've got to get them to keep the warp open!"  
  
"No, I'm going in there," Jim said.  
  
"Jim, I'm just starting to like you. If you go in there, you'll be killed. That place is riddled with Bio-ships, as well as the Bio-sphere," Katt said.  
  
There was a pause. "You're right," Jim sighed. "But what else are we supposed to do?"  
  
"There's always another chance," Claura replied. "We'll get him back."  
  
The Walker had successfully been released from the Great Fox. And the Great Fox was under a few repairs. The walker was being taken to the research room.  
  
"So, do you want a new docking bay built?" Slippy asked.  
  
"Go ahead, Slip, we're gonna need it," Fox said. Bill and James had gone walking. "Slip, I'm starting the Star Fox back up again. Bill and my father are joining it."  
  
"Great, I'm getting bored of this place!" Slippy said.  
  
"Yeah, but I need you to stay here and give us information. We're starting our attack in thirty twenty minutes."  
  
"We better cancel the docking bay, then, and start research now," Slippy said, just as an officer rushed up.  
  
"The Bio-ships have entered the system, there's thousands of them!"  
  
The SYF had easily destroyed the ten enemy cruisers. But now followed the Bio-ships. Thousands sped through the portal and reached the other side, making a mass blur of attackers.  
  
The thousands of Bio-ships slashed through the shields of the SYF. It took a couple of seconds for the shields to go down., and a couple of seconds for the actual cruiser to be destroyed.  
  
Within minutes, cruisers were exploding and Bio-ships were spreading throughout the system, thousands going for each planet, Fortuna, Venom, Zoness, Aquas, and for some reason, Solar.  
  
Communications became weak. "Get out of here!" Claura shouted.  
  
"I'm not running away again!" Jim shouted over the mass chaos.  
  
"You've got Richard and Katt on there, remember. Now go!" Claura shouted again.  
  
Jim's cruiser began to turn and quickly fly away, followed by Claura and hundreds of Bio-ships, making it a rough journey. Things were starting to look bad, especially when he saw that the radar showed the Bio-ship at the other end of the warp, preparing to come through.  
  
There was nothing they could do, Kalgil was making his final attack, and he would most certainly win.  
  
NINE. BIO-ENTRY  
  
The Great Fox quickly took off, away from Aquas' stormy ocean. The remaining Earth Fleet joined them as they flew away for the final battle. And then a distress signal came through.  
  
"Distress signal from Earth Cruiser," ROB informed.  
  
"Fox!" Jim shouted. "There's thousands of them and the Bio-sphere's on the other side of the warp."  
  
"Geez, this is trouble!" Falco sighed.  
  
"We've got fifteen Bio-ships heading for us," Bill informed.  
  
"They're fully armed," James added.  
  
"Jim, thanks for your help. Report to the SASB," Fox said.  
  
"That's the problem," Jim said. "The SASB is being attacked by hundreds of Bio-ships. I think they know our plan."  
  
"Fox, without the SASB we can't close the warp," Bill said.  
  
"Change course, we're heading for the SASB, at full speed. Arm all weapons, let's teach the Bio-ships a lesson!" Fox ordered.  
  
The Great Fox suddenly increased speed, and the fifteen Bio-ships flew past them, like they didn't care.  
  
"Where are they going in a hurry?" Falco asked.  
  
"Aquas," James replied.  
  
"Oh Geez," Bill sighed.  
  
"Don't worry, it's hundreds of feet below water and it's strong...the Bio- ships won't get in there without some problems. Now, how far until the SASB?" Fox said.  
  
"Three minutes," Bill replied.  
  
"And how long until the Warp Destroyer shoots?"  
  
"Too long!" Bill groaned.  
  
There was another of those horrible pauses when the com-link bleeped.  
  
"Slippy!" Fox said in relief. "Give me some good news."  
  
"We've managed to find out a big secret," Slippy said. "Kalgil is operating from a space station just out of the system. He's planning on making that into a Bio-sphere as well as Corneria."  
  
"Isn't he at Corneria? That's where I last saw him," Falco asked.  
  
"It's a decoy, a trap. Anyway, his Bio-mechanics all signal from that same location, the space station," Slippy said.  
  
"Which means..." James said.  
  
"Which means that all of the plans, energy and Bio-viruses are all coming from this on station. If you could destroy that it would be the end of Kalgil's reign."  
  
"That's brilliant. Thanks, Slip!" Fox said and the com-link went off.  
  
"Jim," Fox com-linked to Jim. "Send all of the Sector Y ships to the co- ordinates I'm sending you now. Tell Claura this."  
  
"But Fox..." but Jim was interrupted.  
  
"Fox, all of our cruisers are down and the Bio-ships are still spreading throughout the system, we are helpless," Claura said.  
  
"Geez," Falco sighed.  
  
"Fox, we coming close to the SASB," Bill said.  
  
"Let's go!"  
  
The Great Fox entered the battle scene. Bio-ships were attacking the base from all angles, slashing it to pieces. Because of it's large size, it was managing to hold out, even though it was taking major damage. Few lasers were shooting out of the base, but were doing a lot of damage to the Bio- ships. They shook every time they were hit.  
  
The Great Fox instantly started attacking, shooting hundreds of lasers toward the scene, followed by a few missiles and nova bombs. Although it was clearing the area, no Bio-ships were being injured.  
  
"This ain't working!" Falco shouted over the commotion.  
  
Three Bio-ships spotted the Great Fox and flew away from the SASB.  
  
"We're in trouble!" Bill shouted.  
  
The Bio-ships flashed over the Great Fox with surprisingly fast speed. Their long arms stretched out and smashed into the shields, rocking the ship violently.  
  
The crew got back to their feet. "Shields at forty eight percent and holding," Bill said.  
  
"Another attack like that and the shields are down!" Falco shouted.  
  
There was another violent shake which threw Bill across the room. The shields were gone. There was another, even more violent shake and alarms started sounding.  
  
Bill quickly got back to his feet and assessed the damage. "One booster down with major damage to the upper left wing. The engine is nearly exposed."  
  
"Get us out of here!" Fox shouted.  
  
"NO!" James shouted back. He grabbed the controls and pressed some buttons. The Great Fox's hull began to change into the Super Fox. "We're not leaving until these Bio's are down!"  
  
James had complete control of the ship all of a sudden. He swerved it around and fired upon a Bio-ship. The Bio-ship began to flee, but James followed it, still shooting. The Bio-ship couldn't get away from the Super Fox, which was manoeuvring brilliantly.  
  
Fox and Falco looked at each other with a confused expression.  
  
The Bio-ship splattered into green slime on one last hit, and James quickly was on the tail of another, shooting at it with as much power as he could.  
  
"Sector Authority Space Base in critical condition. Three minutes until hull split," ROB informed.  
  
As James continued to shoot the Bio-ship, three others started to chase him. He quickly pulled off a Loop-the-loop...in the Great Fox?! But he did it, and the Bio-ships were fooled. But suddenly he was court out as a Bio- ship slashed at him behind, and span the whole ship around.  
  
Steam gushed out everywhere. The ship started to slow down from spinning.  
  
"Warning, main power line severed, power loss in twenty minutes," ROB informed. His message was soon followed by another. "Bio-sphere movement detected, entering warp." Then another, "Sector Authority Space Base destruction in fifty seconds."  
  
Then a rough message came through, fuzzing and crackling. "Don't wor- Fox, we've -ot the -arp destroyer on-li-" and the message was followed by a hiss of static.  
  
"Thirty seconds until hull collapse. Evacuate area," ROB warned.  
  
"Let's go," Fox sighed.  
  
James turned the ship around and flew out of the area. Behind them there was a massive explosion which sent Bio-ships flying everywhere. Pieces of burnt metal shattered everywhere as the SASB exploded, but a single, white beam had shot out of the explosion.  
  
"YES!" Bill shouted. "They did it!"  
  
The crew cheered as the warp destroyer laser trailed off into the distance, toward the warp. They watched the radar as the white dot moved toward the destination. The big red dot indicated that the Bio-sphere had almost came out of the warp. It was just about to when the white dot collided, making a large white flash.  
  
When it disappeared, the warp was gone, but the red dot remained.  
  
The Bio-sphere was through.  
  
TEN. THE WEAKNESS  
  
The Bio-sphere, in it's immense size and structured, slowly moved away from the crackling mass which was the remains of the warp. It's tentacles moved around it, ready for any surprise attack. And there was one.  
  
A single cruiser appeared from nowhere and fired upon the Bio-sphere, doing no damage at all. With a single, half-hearted attack, a tentacle flew out and struck the cruiser, instantly ripping it in half.  
  
It continued on, but not heading for any planet, it was heading for a star...Solar. It was moving slowly, reaching Solar in forty five minutes.  
  
When it did, who knows what it would do.  
  
Bill quickly flew out of the now returned Great Fox in an Arwing. He was going to repair the severed main power line. As the Great Fox zoomed away from Sector Y and toward the location of Kalgil's space station, the heart of his attack, it was difficult for Bill to stay at the same speed.  
  
From outside, it was surprising how little damage was done. There was a large slash down the 'Star Fox' logo which lead deep into the ship, where Bill could see the ruptured power line. One of the boosters was damaged slightly, but he didn't see how it didn't work.  
  
Anyway, he knew he had to do the repair perfect, one slip and he would sever the line even more. So he aimed carefully onto the line, and just as he was about to shoot it sparked, making Bill jump. But he re-aimed, and then fired, and the laser hit the line in the exact place that he wanted it to. Continuing to fire, he welded the power line back into place as the Great Fox and Bill flew at high speeds.  
  
"Nice one, Bill!" Fox said.  
  
"Repair was a success, docking now," Bill smiled.  
  
"You better, we're gonna be there in three minutes," Falco said.  
  
Back in the control room, the power had came back on, along with the radar. And they saw that the Bio-sphere was slowly approaching Solar. Why?  
  
"Why the heck is it going there?" Falco said.  
  
James was thinking. Then the horrible thought entered his head. "He's trying the make the sun collapse."  
  
"What?" Falco said.  
  
"That Bio-sphere can't destroy the whole system with out a little bother, because it'll take too long. So what he's trying to do now is make Solar collapse, causing a Black Hole, sucking the planets and anything else into it. He doesn't want anything left of system, nothing at all," James explained.  
  
"But why? Where will he go?" Fox asked.  
  
"He obviously wants his empire to thrive in the Solar System, and that's where he'll start his universal attack, like his brother. He knows that we are his only threat, so he's destroying the whole system so there will be no evidence that it ever existed. Within a few hours, the whole system will just be nothing, empty space."  
  
"Then we have to do something!" Bill said after he had entered the room.  
  
"That's what we are trying to do. We are the system's last hope," Fox said.  
  
"Yeah, and when we have destroyed Kalgil's base, the Bio-sphere will die, and so will all the Bio-ships and the Bio-technology which is growing on Corneria. All of the people who we know who have been taken over by the Bio- technology will be back again, like Frangu," Falco said.  
  
"I hope so, he's going to be the new General," Fox replied.  
  
Before anyone had time to react, the radar flashed.  
  
"We've got an unidentified ship approaching," Bill said. "It's mechanical."  
  
"Shall I open fire?" Falco asked.  
  
"No, it might be friendly," Fox replied.  
  
"But why would they be coming out here, Fox, right next to the station?" James said.  
  
"Okay, open-"  
  
"No, wait!" Bill shouted. It made Falco jump. "It's Slippy!"  
  
"Slippy?!" Falco shouted. "What the heck is that fat frog doing out here?!"  
  
As Slippy approached, he began to open fire on the Great Fox, with a strange coloured laser.  
  
"As he gone mad!?" Falco shouted. "Please let me just tap him!"  
  
"No, he's probably helping," Bill said. "Our shields energy hasn't gone down one bit."  
  
"Error with shields," ROB said. "Unidentified virus."  
  
"What is going on?" Falco said, getting annoyed.  
  
A few minutes later, Slippy had docked his Arwing and ran up to the control room, panting. "Hi, guys! Don't worry about the shields," he said as he walked over to a desk and put in a disk. He began typing. "ROB couldn't identify it, so he said it was a virus, but it's not."  
  
"Then what the heck is it?" Falco asked, getting increasingly annoyed. "We're supposed to be in battle at the moment. Do you know what will happen if that Bio-sphere de-"  
  
"Anyway!" Slippy shouted. "I have discovered the Bio-technology's weakness. If they collide with our shields, they'll get a nasty shock which will dissolve the Bio-tech and kill them. We can't use it as an actual weapon, but it gives us a chance, a slight advantage."  
  
"We're within range of the station," Bill informed.  
  
From a distance, the station appeared daunting, like the Megac Annon had looked like. It was large and square, with Bio-veins growing all around it, almost covering the mechanical parts. Large cannons poked out as weapons, along with large tentacles. It looked as though this station was almost a Bio-sphere, but it was square.  
  
And the Great Fox got closer, ready for the final battle. They were about to do it all over again.  
  
ELEVEN. TRAP  
  
"They fell for it, master. The phoney information which I entered into the walker has totally knocked them off. They think our secret virus is our weakness, they think the Bio-sphere is slowly approaching Solar, when it is in actual fact twenty minutes away, and they think that the warp has permanently been closed. They have no chance of defeating us. They also think that our station is the heart," Kalgil said to a person on the screen.  
  
The person on the screen laughed, a horrible, gurgling laugh. Kalgil wasn't the leader at all, it was the Bio-person on the screen, it was Andross Coldule. "Excellent work, brother. They thought it was easy, first time around. Little did they know that I had this all planned from the beginning. We have no weakness... we will rule!!!"  
  
The cannons did not fire, the tentacles did not attack, the station was till and quiet, even when the Great Fox entered it.  
  
From the inside it looked totally different. Bio-material grew everywhere, on the walls, on the screens, on the cannons, doors, windows, everything. It hung down from the ceiling in long strands.  
  
Then the attack came from nowhere. The Great Fox shook as it was slashed by an invisible Bio-ship.  
  
"I can't see it on the radar!" Bill shouted.  
  
Falco lunged for Slippy, but Fox stopped him. "He said he had a weakness, but he sent us to our death!"  
  
"I don't understand, we tested it on the walker and the Bio-virus died on it!" Slippy whined. He began typing. "I can find out what's wrong!"  
  
"You better!" Falco shouted at the top of his voice.  
  
Before them, the tunnel opened up into a massive arena, with a pulsating Bio-sphere in the middle, attached to the floor and ceiling. It was smaller that the others, but it looked as powerful.  
  
Suddenly the radar blinked and the red dot indicating the Bio-sphere zoomed forward, right next to Solar, moving faster.  
  
"Kalgil put a trap in the walker!" Slippy whined. "It made us think that we had a weakness, when we didn't. It also sent out a beacon which makes all scanners read wrong, until now."  
  
"Is there an observation station operative near So-" James was interrupted by a rumble a the ship was hit.  
  
"The Bio-sphere has become active!" Bill said.  
  
"Arming weapons," Falco said.  
  
"Slippy, can you find..." Fox was stopped.  
  
"Yes! I'm working on it, Fox!" Slippy snapped. He was typing furiously.  
  
Suddenly the whole circular arena started to spin around, making the Great Fox's radar get confused.  
  
"Standard radar jamming device," Bill said. "Our scanners are useless."  
  
"See how he like this!" Falco shouted as he shot a missile followed by a nova bomb. They trailed off toward the middle of the arena, toward the Bio- sphere. Falco, Fox, Bill and James watched closely and then the missile collided, and the Bio-sphere burst, spreading green goo everywhere.  
  
"It was a balloon?" Fox said, confused.  
  
"It's a trap!" James shouted. "Get us out of here!"  
  
Fox grabbed the controls and swung the ship around toward the exit. Then the door closed.  
  
"Oh no, what's happening?!" the com-link buzzed. It was Kalgil. "'What happened to the radar, what happened to the weakness and what happened to the heart?' I hear you cry. You fools, do you really think I would have made it that difficult? In thirty seconds that base will explode and in twenty seconds, my virus will take effect and your power will go. Welcome to the Coldule age!"  
  
"Dang!" Falco shouted.  
  
"Never give up, Falco. There is always a way!" James said.  
  
"Those doors are shielded and laser proof," Bill informed.  
  
"Fifteen seconds until power failure," ROB informed.  
  
The base started to vibrate. But it wasn't the base, it was the doors. They were shaking. They were being attacked from the other side. And will a sudden burst, they split open, and two fighters appeared on the other side.  
  
"Sorry we took so long!" Katt said.  
  
"Katt, you're okay!" Falco sighed in relief.  
  
"Get out of here!" James shouted, seeing that they had five seconds left.  
  
Fox grabbed the controls again and sped out of the station as fast as he could. Katt and Pepper quickly followed. The Great Fox sped through the base as fast as it could, the engines working as powerful as they could. And then nothing, they stopped. The ship started to slow down just as the station started to collapse behind them and explode.  
  
Pepper and Katt sped past them and out of the exit which was only a mile in front of them, visible in the distance. And the flames were catching up.  
  
"Shields on full!" Fox shouted.  
  
"We have no shields!" somebody shouted back but then the flames court up with a bang from behind, and the view screen went a bright orange colour.  
  
Fox was thrown to the floor by the massive shaking, and somebody landed on top of him. Everything was baking hot around him and he felt as if he was going to melt. He was being thrown up and down with the ship and parts of the station were falling on the ship.  
  
Fox thought to himself, we've lost, just as he smashed against the wall, head first, and fainted.  
  
CORNERIA: THE FINAL CONFRONTATION  
  
"Fox! Are you there! James, can you read me? Anyone, Falco, Bill? Speak to me!" The com-link fuzzed. Katt was desperately trying to contact them. She though they were dead.  
  
And so did Fox, when he woke up. Everything was white, but it soon focused into the scene of the control room, relatively undamaged. He climbed up onto his chair. "ROB, damage report."  
  
"Seventy eight percent damage to hull. Power loss and weaponry loss," ROB reported.  
  
All around the Great Fox was the destroyed Space Station, and probably some of the Great Fox. This was confirmed when the 'Star Fox' logo painted on some metal floated past the screen. Geez, the damage was bad.  
  
"Fox! Are you there!?" Pepper shouted, and Fox grabbed the radio.  
  
"I'm here, I'm here...I think!"  
  
"Thank goodness!" Katt said. "What about Falco?"  
  
"I'm not sure, they're all down, and Bill's bleeding from his arm," Fox reported.  
  
"We have to act quickly, the Bio-sphere's trying to destroy Solar," Pepper said.  
  
The horrible thought returned to Fox's head. The Bio-sphere! If it destroyed Solar, the whole system would be destroyed!  
  
"We're coming in to get you, Fox," Claura said. "Just stay put." And the com-link went silent.  
  
There was a groan as Slippy climbed up from the floor. "Arrgh!" He winced. "The computer!"  
  
"What about it, Slip? The power's down," Fox said.  
  
"The virus wasn't programmed for the back-up generator," Slippy said. "ROB, activate back-up generator."  
  
"Back up generator activated," ROB informed.  
  
All of the controls flashed back on, and James woke up. "What's going on?"  
  
Slippy began typing again. He had to reverse the virus, and then he could find the weakness...maybe.  
  
Bill winced as he climbed up. He was holding his arm. "Hi, guys!"  
  
Falco groaned, looked around and quickly jumped up. He seemed to be the least effected. "It's Corneria!"  
  
"What?" Fox said.  
  
"The virus, it made us think that Kalgil was on this space station, but he's on Corneria," Falco explained.  
  
"You're right," Fox said, just as the cruiser smashed though the wreckage and flew over them, letting the Great Fox fly into the docking bay.  
  
Fox, James, Falco, Bill (with a bandage), Claura, Katt, Pepper and Jim sat around a table in the cruiser.  
  
"We have a drastic situation on our hands, here," Fox began. "We have a short time until the Bio-sphere destroys Solar, creating a black hole, the SASB has been destroyed, Peppy is missing, Corneria is slowly being turned into a Bio-sphere and we still have no weakness, which Slippy is working on.  
  
"Now, we are currently on our way to Corneria, the final battle. We are all going to take a part in this plan. Me and my father are going to find Kalgil, and hopefully bring him down..."  
  
"Bill, Pepper, Falco and Katt are going to attack from outside, along with Claura and Jim in their cruisers, weakening their defences. Slippy will be hacking into the computers, giving us information.  
  
"Now, we are a small team, so we have to act efficiently and as a team, believe in each other, and we'll win. Now, let's go!" Fox finished.  
  
Everyone exited, and James walked up to Fox. "Son, that was good. I'm impressed. Now we'll work as father and son, and we'll show the Coldules to stop messing with the McClouds!" and they hugged.  
  
Corneria appeared in the distance, half covered in Bio-technology, a horrible site. The two cruisers approached, and six fighters broke off.  
  
"Remember, we're doing this for the citizens of Lylat!" Fox said as the cruisers and fighters headed for Corneria City.  
  
"Fox, I've decoded the virus and found the weakness!" Slippy said, excited. "I'm shooting it at you now!"  
  
A cannon moved on one of the cruisers and a green laser flashed out toward Fox, then at James, followed by Katt, and soon the rest of the team. They had a better chance now.  
  
"This one better work, Slip!" Falco growled.  
  
"It will! It will!" Slippy reassured. "Fox, I'm starting hacking now..."  
  
And the fighters entered the atmosphere, soon covered by clouds. The cruisers followed, bursting through the white puffs.  
  
And then it appeared in front of them. The City, buildings covered in pulsating veins which was making Corneria into a Bio-sphere. And the main, thick veins were coming from the base, and that was where Fox and James were heading.  
  
"Break!" Fox ordered, and the fighters split apart and went to their locations. "Begin covering!" and the fighters and cruisers began shooting upon the veins, doing no damage.  
  
This was James and Fox's chance. They quickly flew around the base and landed in a mass of veins, secretly entering the base. They landed in the same place and quickly cut their engines, and jumped out onto moving ground. They were moved up and down as the veins pulsated.  
  
"There's a door over here," James whispered, loading his handlaser.  
  
Fox flicked around and then quickly followed. "Slippy, have you deactivated the security yet?"  
  
"This system is easier to hack into than I thought. Yeah, sure, along with all laser cameras," Slippy replied.  
  
"Let's go!" James whispered as he opened the door.  
  
Fox pointed his gun in quickly, but nothing was there except for a small corridor full of Bio-technology. And he entered, followed by his father.  
  
They cautiously crept through the familiar base of the Cornerian army. They suddenly straightened up against a wall as they saw two officers walk past. They were Cornerian, but had Bio-technology in them. And they saw the McClouds.  
  
They quickly opened fire on the two men, possibly the only people in the base who weren't Bio-men. Fox jumped out of the way and shot back, hitting an officer in the head. James shot straight into the heart.  
  
"You're shot isn't very good," he said to Fox.  
  
"Slippy, we don't know where we're going. Can you give us a map on my com- link screen?" Fox asked.  
  
"Er-I'll see what I can do," Slippy whispered. "Oh, Fox, I think you should know something, Kalgil's sent hundreds of Bio-ships to Fortuna for some reason. I think they might be starting to attack the Bio-sphere."  
  
"Stop them immediately!" Fox ordered. "They won't stand a chance!"  
  
James nudged him to move on, and they did, further into the base, further into danger.  
  
"What's going on?" Jim said. "Where are they?"  
  
"They'll come," Katt said.  
  
"And when they do, we'll kick their tails, won't we, Katt?" Falco said.  
  
They continued to fly over the city, firing at the Bio-veins. The cruisers were shooting heavy laser bolts down, too.  
  
"Hey, concentrate all fire on the vein I'm just about to shoot," Claura said.  
  
A laser shot down on a vein, and many others followed, and the vein soon exploded, and quickly died. And that's when they came.  
  
Thousands of Bio-ships poured out from the veins, filling the sky like a swarm of bees.  
  
"The veins aren't veins, they're tunnels!" Bill shouted.  
  
"Let's hope this weakness works!" Falco said.  
  
The first one to find out was Katt, as a Bio-ship slashed at her shields. There was a green spark and the Bio-ship suddenly turned green, and started to disintegrate. Soon, the soldier was revealed, and fell to the ground...dead.  
  
Hundreds of soldiers started to fall as Bio-ships flocked to the cruisers.  
  
"Hey, well what do you know?!" Falco grinned.  
  
"It's going to be a mess down there," Bill said.  
  
"It already is, we're cleaning it up," Falco replied.  
  
Fox's com-link bleeped and turned black. White lines started building up, and once they had, two red dots appeared.  
  
"He's done it!" Fox said quietly.  
  
"What way?" James asked as they came to a four-way junction.  
  
"I'll lead," Fox whispered in reply.  
  
The two Foxes started walking even deeper into the base, with Bio- technology everywhere. It was a horrible site, and it was growing. The team were Lylat's last hope, and this time it was worse than before.  
  
And then they came to a dead end. Bio-veins blocked the tunnel.  
  
"Oh geez," Fox said. "This isn't a dead end, we have to enter a Bio- vein."  
  
"What? A vein?" James said in disbelief.  
  
"According to Slippy's message, the veins are tunnels for the Bio-ships to get through. They also lead into the heart of the base, and possibly to the control room. We're going to have to enter enemy territory," Fox explained.  
  
James armed his gun, sweat pouring off of him. "We're going to have to fight." And he pushed the veins apart, and he walked in, out of site. And his son quickly followed.  
  
"Sir, we have movement in vein fifty, entrance ten," an officer reported. It was a Cornerian officer.  
  
"Put it on camera," Kalgil said.  
  
"I'm trying," the officer said, confused. "The security seems to be down...jammed."  
  
"It's that computer toad! Dang!" Kalgil pounded his chair...Fox's chair. "They distracted us. And now we're in threat. How did that green freak of a toad find the weakness?! My brother spent ages trying to make them without a weakness! How?!"  
  
"Sir, we're losing too many men!" another officer turned around.  
  
"Launch the cloaking, class five soldiers. They won't get an advantage. Also, since the McClouds are in our territory, send a Bio-ship to deal with them. They won't get any closer," Kalgil ordered.  
  
Inside the vein it was a dull green colour, and very large, about a hundred meters in diameter. It moved slowly and the floor wasn't stable, it was more like a sponge. And there was a dull throbbing noise.  
  
"Which way? Left or right?" James asked.  
  
"Left, it leads right next to the control room," Fox replied, looking at the map.  
  
The McClouds started through the vein, their main goal to get to the control room, and kill Kalgil. The two were tense, gripping their guns tightly, ready for any attack. And then, a little way in front of them, they heard a rumbling. James' eyes flicked around to see what was happening. and then he knew.  
  
He grabbed Fox and dived against the wall, where it was very flexible, and held them while it happened. A sudden surge of Bio-ships zoomed past them, making it extremely windy, almost pushing the two away into nowhere. But they held on tight. Hundreds flashed past in a blur, and then they were gone.  
  
James sighed and came away from the wall, followed by Fox. "He's on to us, I just know it!"  
  
"You're right, we've got a single Bio-ship approaching us," Fox said.  
  
"Run!" James shouted.  
  
The two Foxes began running back up the vain as the Bio-ship appeared in the distance. It was way to quick for them, and it quickly grew bigger as it approached them. It lowered it's arm and started tearing the vein floor as it approached them.  
  
Fox leapt out of the way and so did James. The Bio-ship stopped. It couldn't find them. They were gone.  
  
But Fox quickly jumped out of his hiding place, pouncing on the ship.  
  
"Fox!...No!" James shouted.  
  
But Fox had already grabbed onto the ship. It started zooming around, trying to knock Fox off. But Fox held on tight, and punched his gun into it's skin. His arm was sucked in, and so was he.  
  
"FOX!" James shouted as Fox vanished from view.  
  
Fox was actually in the Bio-ship, facing the soldier, with Bio-veins pouring out of his mouth. More veins quickly started forming, and approaching Fox's mouth. He was going to be transformed!  
  
With little time left, he aimed his gun at the soldier's head, and shot. The laser burnt through the Bio-ship, killing the soldier, and, in turn, killing the Bio-ship. Fox fell with a thus onto the soft floor.  
  
James rushed over. "Fox, what happened?!"  
  
Fox got up, and started on down the vein. "We have to get to the control room, Solar is being attacked!"  
  
Hundreds of Bio-ships suddenly burst out of the veins, and then disappeared.  
  
"Hey, what happened?" Katt said.  
  
"They've got cloaking on," Bill said as he was thrown across the sky. A Bio-ship appeared, green, and faded. The weakness still worked.  
  
"Still a sintch?" Pepper asked.  
  
"Still a sintch!" Falco replied as a Bio-ship slashed at him.  
  
"So the plan is, we just sit here until the Bio-ships run out?" Katt asked. "Sounds good to me!"  
  
Their com-links bleeped and Jim's face appeared. "Guys, Slippy's got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Bio-sphere has stopped attacking Solar. The bad news is, it's heading for us!"  
  
"One...two...three...GO!" James said to Fox.  
  
The two McClouds leapt through the wall of the vein and back onto normal, metallic ground, back into the base, right in front of the door to the main control the room, just a few seconds away from their final confrontation.  
  
"Remember, you take the quickest shot at Kalgil as you can, it may be our only chance," James said. Fox nodded. "One...two...three..."  
  
"...and it's on it's wa-," Kalgil was interrupted when the McClouds burst through the door and the youngest one fired his lasergun. With his quick reactions, he jumped out of the way. "You'll have to be quicker than that!"  
  
"We're here to get our system back!" Fox shouted as he shot lasers at Kalgil, who was dodging. All of the officers quickly attacked Fox. One punched him right in the face. Another kicked hum in the chest.  
  
"Too bad, McClouds! Coldules win again!" Kalgil laughed as he jumped into a secret vein at the back of the control room.  
  
James lunged at him to grab him and pull him back, but he was too late. He was tempted to jump in and follow, but he turned around and saw his son being beaten by the officers.  
  
He aimed his gun and shot it at the officer just about to lunge a punch. The laser hit him straight in the head, and this gave Fox a chance to get control.  
  
The two McClouds began shooting the officers, and soon they were going down. But the officers had another plan. They opened their mouths and tentacles flicked out, knocking the foxes over.  
  
One flicked over to James, and James quickly grabbed it and tugged it, pulling the officer toward him. He shot the laser straight into the officer's eye.  
  
Just as James was about to shoot another officer, large, thick, strong tentacles whipped out of the vein behind him, and pulled him in, closing the vein tight behind him.  
  
Inside this vein it was different, circular but with the same, dull green colour.  
  
"It's just you and me again, McCloud," a deep, groaning voice said. It came from nowhere, everywhere.  
  
"Have you been practising?" James asked, looking everywhere around the arena.  
  
There was a dull laugh, but it didn't sound like Kalgil, but it was. "I've had the chance. You can't stop us, you know."  
  
"Kalgil, your plan has suddenly gone wrong, just like it did with your brother. You're losing again," James said.  
  
"Maybe so, but my Bio-sphere is on it's way to destroy Corneria. You have already lost."  
  
"But you've had to change your plan. You're as bad as your brother, another petite criminal."  
  
"Enough!" Kalgil shouted in his deep, creepy voice. There was movement in front of James, and a massive alien face appeared, with long fangs and thin, yellow eyes. Pure evil. This was Kalgil's final attack, and the Bio- technology's heart. James had to kill it.  
  
It grinned and lunged it's head out, biting at James. James dived out of the way, narrowly being missed by the Bio-leader. It swung it's head around and knocked James into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. He hit it head first and collapsed to the ground.  
  
There was another deep laugh and an arm came out of the wall, grabbing the weak body of James. It squeezed him and started thumping him into the ground.  
  
James felt giddy and couldn't get his bearings. He shook his head and realised he was flying through the air, being thrown. He hit the soft ground and quickly jumped back up and aimed his gun. But where to shoo?! The arm slowly approached him again so he shot an eye. It blinked, but done nothing else.  
  
The arm grabbed him again and started to pull him toward it's mouth, with it's long, sharp fangs. He was in trouble. So he shouted and began shooting the mouth.  
  
"Helpless!" the voice said. "Not as good, this time!"  
  
"Last time we had even chances!" James shouted back.  
  
"Not this time!"  
  
"Because you know I'm better?" The hand stopped just before James entered the mouth.  
  
"You could never be better than me!"  
  
"I was last time!"  
  
"Luck!" the voice was getting angry.  
  
James realised he had found Kalgil's weakness. "So why not see this time?"  
  
"Shut up you weak fool!" and the hand moved slightly, getting nearer to the mouth.  
  
"No, because the only way you can win is by making yourself stronger, not fighting fair. You can never be a good leader. What makes a good leader is my son!" James shouted desperately.  
  
The mouth started to bite down when it suddenly disappeared and James took a hit from behind. He fell to the floor when he was lifted up be his fur on his head and kicked in the stomach three times, with one punch to the head and a throw. Weak, he fell away and collapsed against the wall.  
  
"Is this equal enough odds for you!" Kalgil shouted, standing in front of James. One single vein stretched out from the back of his head and into the wall. James knew that if he could sever this, the war could be over.  
  
So, with the last amount of his strength he jumped up and shot the vein as much as he could. But it done nothing. Kalgil laughed behind him and he felt another bang on his head, and a kick to his back. He winced and fell to the floor, helpless.  
  
"Coldule blood is stronger than McCloud, face it!" Kalgil said. He kicked James in the face. "Why didn't you just stay dead, eh?" Another kick. "You know I'll win...and even if I don't, the Solar System will fight on!" Another kick. "I'm just too good..." another kick, "...and better than you!"  
  
And that done it. The next kick James grabbed and twisted Kalgil's foot, twisting his leg and making him fall to the floor. With a bleeding nose and ear and a painful back, James didn't give up. He kicked Kalgil again, and again, and again, releasing his anger, shouting with aggression.  
  
Kalgil quickly fought back, doing a flip back up and tapping James in the face. He grabbed it, and punched it three times. James retaliated with a punch into the stomach. Kalgil winced as he was winded, and James done a brilliant spinning kick into Kalgil's head, knocking him flying into a wall. Kalgil looked as though he was out cold.  
  
James ran for his laser gun and bent down to pick it up when he felt a weight on his back. Kalgil was on it. James straightened up quickly and knocked Kalgil back off. He quickly turned around and shot his gun, but Kalgil was gone.  
  
There was a crack on James' back and he knew Kalgil's had axe-kicked it. James stumbled to the floor and his gun went flying. Kalgil put his arm around James' neck and yanked him up off of the ground.  
  
James elbowed Kalgil in the stomach three times and he fell away, letting James breathe again. James turned as quick as he could, but he was too late again. Kalgil was gone. So he quickly turned around and saw the punch coming. He ducked and, with a strong uppercut, knocked Kalgil back. This time James was quick, he put his foot on Kalgil's neck. The two men were both breathing heavily, sweating badly.  
  
James swept the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his paw. "Looks like I'm better," he panted.  
  
Kalgil laughed. "I think not. Where's your gun?"  
  
James pressed his foot down on Kalgil's neck harder. "I don't need a gun!" he growled.  
  
Kalgil sudden looked threatened, with fear in his face. "You kill me and this whole planet goes up in flames."  
  
"Just like you 'gave' us the weakness and said that the Bio-sphere was miles away, eh?" James replied. "I'm sure. Besides, you've destroyed Venom City, abducted our friends and caused a hell of a lot of damage, and, above all, you killed one of my best friends." The thought of losing Peppy suddenly made him even more enraged.  
  
Kalgil grinned. "He wasn't a good soldier anyway!"  
  
James screamed in anger, with an evil look on his face, and he stamped his foot onto Kalgil's neck. Kalgil struggled, and then stopped. He was dead.  
  
But nothing happened...immediately. Seconds later the Bio-technology started to die, shrivelling up and fading, veins disappearing everywhere, Corneria turning back to it's normal self. Citizens, officers and soldiers started coming out of the trance and within minutes, all Bio-technology had gone, and the Lylat System was saved.  
  
The Bio-sphere shrunk to the size of a fighter and started floating lifeless in space.  
  
The Lylat System was saved...once again!  
  
CORNERIA: THE CELEBRATIONS  
  
The celebrations started with a bang, literally. Fireworks exploded into the night sky over Corneria. Hundreds of cruisers had come from all of the system to join the celebrations.  
  
Crowds cheered at the team of Fox, James, Slippy, Pepper, Bill, Katt, Claura, Jim and Falco as they appeared on the stage in the spotlight of the cruisers floating above. With a single punch into the air from Fox, the crowds went wild.  
  
General Fox McCloud signalled for the crowds the quieten down. "Thanks. We were not going to let this peaceful system go down again into the hands of evil. And, tonight, with a second struggle, my father beat Kalgil, the menace who caused all of this.  
  
"But we have to remember the lives lost and the damage caused in this battle for peace. It's horrible, but it's the price we had to pay.  
  
"Also, I would like to take a moment to remember my and your good friend, Peppy Hare, who was unfortunately lost in the war.  
  
"However, we have reclaimed our territory and Kalgil, nor any evil will get in our way again!" Fox shouted.  
  
So did the crowds. Cruisers shot lasers into the air, followed by missiles which exploded. Everyone was in the mood for a big celebration.  
  
"I'd like to thank my father, James McCloud, for his tremendous effort which brought down Kalgil," Fox said. James walked onto the stage and cheers went out once again as the medal went around his neck. "And Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, Katt Lombardi, General James McCloud, Claura Wilkenson, Bill Samson and Richard Pepper for their effort which stopped Kalgil," and there were more cheers.  
  
Fox calmed them down again. "I'd like to take this moment to announce that the Star Fox team is starting up again with three new members; Katt Lombardi," and Falco and Katt cuddled, "my father and Bill Samson."  
  
Even more cheers and the Great Fox rose up from behind a building, controlled by ROB, looking as good as new already.  
  
"However, this means that I must resign from being General, even though it's been a pleasure. So, if Lieutenant Jonus Frangu will take up my offer..."  
  
Frangu looked shocked. He climbed up onto the stage.  
  
"Citizens of Lylat, you're new General!" Fox shouted.  
  
Another roaring cheer and the celebrations continued.  
  
But it wasn't over yet...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


End file.
